Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 29 May 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government

Photo of Eoin Ó BroinEoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his statement and apologise for having to step out of the room shortly for approximately 45 minutes. He should not be lulled into a false sense of security as I will be back for the second part of the meeting.

I acknowledge the work of the Minister and his officials on this. Despite our disagreements in other areas, these are important regulations which I fully support. The Minister confirmed the statement he made yesterday on the floor of the Dáil that, subject to the approval of the Oireachtas this week, the regulations will be enforceable from 1 July. That is very welcome.

I have a couple of minor technical questions by way of clarification so that members of the committee and the public are clear about what this involves. My understanding of the definitions in the regulations is that A1 refers to a room or rooms in a person's property, whereas A2 is when someone is letting out the full property. Will the Minister confirm in plain English that that is the case? Will he also explain, again in plain English, the difference between forms 15, 16 and 17 and the different functions they have? I am thinking about the people who will have to fill out these forms.

I only have one reservation which I raised on Committee Stage. If I am reading this right, there could be a requirement for hosts to correspond with the local authority four times in one year. They would need to notify the local authority of their intention to seek the exemption at the start of the year, correspond with the local authority 45 days later and again 90 days later and correspond with it again at the end of the year. The Minister might clarify if I have that wrong but that is the way I read it.

Subject to the approval of the Oireachtas, the regulations will come into effect on 1 July. This means that people who will not be eligible for this exemption will have to apply for planning permission. Many of these people are asking about the period between 1 July and the time a decision on planning permission is granted. What is the status of any lettings those people have booked in at the moment? I presume a certain level of common sense will prevail and it will only be at the end of the planning process, when a decision has been taken, that this will be enforceable. Will the Minister shed some light on that to give clarity for all concerned?

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