Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

Select Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage

2:10 pm

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We do not propose to accept this amendment because we believe it is unnecessary to provide for it in primary legislation. We do not think it is needed. To be clear, much of what the Deputy is asking a report to do, is in train and is happening under pillar 3 of the existing strategy Rebuilding Ireland - An Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. We have the Dublin Housing Supply Co-ordination Task Force, which is a local infrastructure housing activation fund; the NTMA is financing a large-scale on-site infrastructure; while the planning reforms, as we are discussion today are putting in place a national planning framework and nine managing actions. We are focusing on key sites and trying to force the issue on these sites and track what is going on and what is causing the delay in construction. Efficient design and delivery methods to lower housing delivery costs are part of what we are trying to do as well, in both social and private housing. There are measures to support construction innovation and skills, which is key, and we want a conversation around design and build as well.

We had a discussion in the Seanad on whether the Bill is developer driven and also during the Second Stage debate in the Dáil. The Bill does not guarantee that planning applications are given a "Yes", but that there is a timeframe for a decision. The decision can be a "Yes" or a "No". I previously said that I think it strengthens the hands of some councils in the planning process. This was analysed and three or four different reports on the Dublin Housing Supply Co-ordinatrion Task Force also fed into the analysis behind this as well.

There are some serious delays in the planning process, not in all cases and not in all councils. Deputies know that it takes up to two years in some cases to get a decision. What the section is trying to do is encourage people, who might be of a mindset not to develop their land, to activate their plans to develop the site and deliver housing. That is the motive for introducing a temporary change that will be reviewed in three years time. It is a genuine attempt to inform people who have sites about a process that will given them a decision in six months or thereabouts. It does not guarantee the applicant planning permission and applicants are rightly encouraged to engage in preplanning and consultation with the local authorities. In response to Deputy Ó Broin, it tightens up the timeframe for pre-planning and it is now down to 13 weeks in total. We believe this amendment is unnecessary, because a lot of the work it proposes is ongoing and in any event, we discuss this most weeks during Question Time in the Dáil.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.