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

Under section 134 of the Planning Act 2000, the board has absolute discretion to decide whether it should hold an oral hearing on an appeal before it. On oral hearings, the Bill provides that, in the case of a strategic housing development, the board must have regard to the exceptional circumstances which require the urgent delivery of housing as set out in the action plan for housing and homelessness and the particular circumstances of the application. The amendment proposed would take away from the board’s absolute discretion in this matter by requiring it to have regard to specific criteria. The inclusion of these specific criteria in the Bill would have the effect of giving them primacy over other considerations that may be of central importance in determining whether to hold an oral hearing on a particular case. None of the criteria is of such unique and special importance as to warrant individual mention in the Bill in the context of the application by the board of its discretion in this matter. Accordingly, I must oppose the amendment. The board has discretion and can still take the matter on board.