Mr. John Spain:

In regard to compliance and other measures to speed up the process in terms of delivering on housing and getting houses built, there are more than enough lands zoned in the greater Dublin area than is required to meet housing needs for the next four years. There are also sufficient planning permissions but these are not being implemented. There are a number of measures set out in Construction 2020 which should be incorporated into the planning Bill as well as into policy. We would generally support those measures which will help speed up the delivery of housing. There are many issues arising outside planning. Issues such as financing, funding, resourcing and the ability of developers to build houses also need to be addressed. These are also dealt with in other parts of Construction 2020.

On compliance, we have highlighted this as an area that needs to be properly codified and speeded up in terms of the timescale within which decisions are made. We would agree with the view that there has been a long-standing gap in planning practice in that enforcement has always fallen far short of what it should be. There have been some improvements in this area in the past five to ten years but enforcement still falls short of what it should be. This is primarily down to the resourcing of planning departments to ensure priority is given to enforcement matters. If planning is not enforced, it loses its effectiveness.

In terms of certificates of lawfulness, this concept arises from a need to tidy up gaps and failures in existing legislation to provide people with a mechanism whereby they can obtain certainty as to whether something they propose to do in terms of development is compliant with planning or even requires planning permission. It is important there is a clear decision in that regard, on which people can rely. Currently, this is addressed by way of section 5 certificates. However, some difficulties have arisen in that while a land owner could obtain from a local authority a section 5 certificate in respect of a proposed development another party can make an application in respect of the same development to the local authority and then appeal that to the board, the result being a contrary decision. This means there can be two contrary decisions on one matter, which leads to uncertainty for people. The legislation was never intended to be used in this way and so it needs to be tidied up. The way to address this is, we suggest, through certificates of lawfulness in respect of a proposed use or development. This would also address the issue of a use which has been in existence for more than seven years and is beyond enforcement. It is not possible to enforce against a development after seven years unless it is in breach of a condition on use. This means that because such developments are not lawful but cannot be enforced against the situation remains in limbo. A certificate of lawfulness would enable that to be tidied up and would again provide certainty to people in making a decision in respect of a property investment.

On local area plans, these should of course be prepared by the planning authority rather than developers. There are cases where developers have prepared plans. This arises because of resource failings within the local authority. It is important local authorities have the resources to prepare plans. Obviously, the local authorities are the statutory bodies responsible for such plans.