Questions on the Draft SEA Resource Manual for Local and Regional Authorities
–
Integration of SEA Legislation and Procedures for Landuse plans
The following questionnaire asks some general information about the participant which is followed by a
series of questions on the three main parts of the Draft Manual. Finally there are some broad questions
to determine your overall impression of the document. A summary of what is contained in each part of
the Manual is set out below.
General Information
1) Please state which of the following you are: Please insert a 
a) Planner
b) Environmental Scientist
c) Ecologist
d) Heritage Officer
e) Other (please state)_____________________________
2) Are you part of a Local Authority SEA Team (e.g. group of people from different sections of the
Local Authority)? Please insert a 
a) Yes
b) No
c) Other (please state)_____________________________
3) How many years experience in SEA do you have? Please insert a 
a) None
b) One to two
c) Three to four
d) Five to six
e) Seven or more
4) Is your experience continuous (continuously working on SEA) or intermittent (once in a while)?
a) Continuous
b) Intermittent
c) Not relevant
5) How would you rate the level of experience you have in conducting SEA? Please insert a 
a) No experience
b) Limited experience
c) Reasonably experienced
d) Very experienced
SEA Resource Manual Part I: Introduction (Chapter 1 and 2)
Chapter 1 outlines the purpose and structure of the SEA Resource and Implementation Manual. It refers
to guidance on SEA and publications which have reviewed the effectiveness of SEA. An overview of
plan-making in Ireland (i.e. hierarchy of plans and programmes) and a summary of other related
environmental legislation (EIA Directive, Habitats Directive, Conventions, etc.) is provided. It also
contains a section on ecological principles and why they are of particular importance in environmental
assessments.
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1) Are the purpose and objectives of the SEA Resource Manual (in the Executive Summary and
Chapter 1) clear? If not, what would improve this section?
2) Section 1.2 sets out a list of other guidance on SEA. Would you recommend any others?
3) Section 1.4 refers to environmental legislation (EIA, SEA, Habitats Directives, etc.). Would you
suggest any additional legislation or relevant plans/programmes in this section?
4) Would you include any other headings in Section 1.5 on ‘ecological principles’?
Chapter 2 outlines the key elements of SEA. It sets out the SEA thresholds (i.e. population thresholds,
etc.) and discusses how SEA can be integrated into local authority activities (through SEA
multidisciplinary teams). It includes a section on Appropriate Assessment (AA) and Flood Risk
Assessment (FRA) and also includes details regarding the relevant consultation bodies and their contacts
details. A summary of ‘tools’ which can be used during SEA (e.g. use of expert judgment, multi-criteria
analysis, etc.) are outlined.
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5) Are you familiar with (or have you used) any of the tools (such as expert judgment, etc.) outlined
in Table 4, Section 2.8? Would you add or remove any tool and why?
Part I (Overview of Section)
6) What is your opinion on the layout and content of this section?
7) What aspect(s) of Part I would you add to or what aspect(s) would you remove?
SEA Resource Manual Part II: The SEA Process
Chapter 3 to 7 describes the key stages of the SEA process, namely the key outputs (i.e. reports) during
Screening, Scoping, Environmental Report, Post-Adoption Statement and Monitoring stages. Examples
of local authority reports, summary diagrams and strengths and weaknesses associated with each stage
are included.
1) Are the reporting stages (e.g. Screening, Scoping) clear? If not, please state why? Please consider
the content, layout, etc.
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Part II (Overview of Section)
2) What aspect(s) of Part II would you add to or what aspects would you remove?
SEA Resource Manual Part III: SEA Integration
Chapters 8 to 11 present a timetable set out in a week by week format which specifies when reports
(necessary to align the SEA process with the plan-making process) are required. The timetable meets
the requirements of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) and Regulations. This
section seeks to ensure timely integration of SEA (and AA and FRA) into the review of landuse plans; to
ensure environmental considerations are ‘taken account of’ and integrated into the plan; and that
periods of excess workload are planned for in advance.
This section is divided up by plan type and by different scenario:
Chapter 8 Local Area Plan
 Scenario A (1): Identifies the procedure involved when a Full SEA is not mandatory (and concludes
with a Screening Determination)
 Scenario A (2): Identifies the procedure involved when SEA Screening should be conducted in the
latter stages of the LAP-making process to examine the environmental effects of proposed Material
Alterations to the Draft LAP/ Amendment
 Scenario A (3): Identifies the procedure involved when Full SEA should be conducted in the latter
stages of the LAP-making process when Material Alterations are proposed
 Scenario B: Identifies the procedure involved when a Full SEA is identified as mandatory from early
in the plan-making process (i.e. a Scoping, Environmental Report, SEA Statement and Monitoring
must be undertaken)
Chapter 9 Development Plan
 Scenario A: Identifies the procedure involved where Full SEA is mandatory
Chapter 10 Variations to Development Plans
 (Scenarios as per LAP above)
Chapter 11 Regional Planning Guidelines
 Scenario A: Identifies the procedure involved where Full SEA is mandatory
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Part III also contains diagrams which summarise and provide an overview of reporting timeframes and
outputs.
1) Are the different ‘Scenarios’ easy to follow (e.g. Scenario A is a timetable for a plan where SEA
ends with a Screening determination which states that further steps in SEA (i.e. Scoping,
Environmental Report, etc.) are not required)? If they are not easy to follow, how would you
improve them?
2) Do you think the ‘non statutory review or pre-review’ time periods for each Plan (i.e. Local Area
Plan, etc.) are sufficient to allow the planning to complete the necessary work outlined?
3) Is there sufficient detail in this section (e.g. the categories for ‘external’ documents and ‘internal’
reports, documentation) to assist the planning authority with the integration of SEA with the planmaking steps?
4a) Are the summary charts (p.159-163) clear and easy to follow? Please insert a 
b) Yes
b) No
4b) Would you use the summary charts for consultation purposes (e.g. with elected representatives,
members of the public or the SEA team)? If not, please state why and how they could be improved.
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Part III (Overview of Section)
5) Is the layout of Part III easy to follow (i.e. content, layout, size of text, colours, other, etc.)? If not,
please provide suggestions to improve these aspects.
6) What would you include in Part III or remove from the section?
General Questions (Part I, Part II and Part III)
1) Who do you think will benefit from using the Manual? Please insert a 
Planning Authorities undertaking in-house SEA (inexperienced)
Yes
No
Planning Authorities undertaking in-house SEA (experienced)
Yes
No
SEA Environmental Authorities
Yes
No
Other sectors who must undertake SEA
Yes
No
Other (please state):_____________________________________________________________
2) Are there any clear strengths or weaknesses with the Draft SEA Resource Manual?
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3) What aspects of SEA (e.g. parts of the Environmental Report) do you think are important (please
give an example)? Is there anything in the Manual to assist with this aspect? If not, should
additional information be included?
4) What other tools are needed to assist local authorities?
5) If the Manual was made available in electronic and hard formats, which would you use more often?
Please insert a 
a) an electronic (online) version
b) a hard copy
c) both
Thank you for completing the questionnaire!
Please forward your questionnaire or other comments to toreilly@galwaycoco.ie or by post to Teresa
O’Reilly, West Regional Authority, 1st Floor, Woodquay Court, Woodquay, Galway by Friday 16th August,
2013.
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