33. (1) For the avoidance of doubt, the relevant competent authority shall, in the preparation of any thing to which this subsection applies, ensure that the thing does not contravene the following acts of the institutions of the European Union, or any provision of an Act of the Oireachtas enacted or made for the purposes of giving effect to any such act:

(a) Habitats Directive;

(b) Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001¹¹ on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment;

(c) Birds Directive.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to each of the following:

(a) the marine planning policy statement;

(b) guidelines issued under section 7 ;

(c) policy directives issued under section 8 ;

(d) each draft MSP;

(e) each draft DMAP;

(f) a proposed material amendment under section 28 .

(3) In this section, “relevant competent authority” means the competent authority (M) or competent authority (D), as appropriate.