Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 December 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Planning and Development Bill 2020: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Photo of Rebecca MoynihanRebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will leave some time to allow for an answer to Deputy Ó Broin's last question, where we had run out of time. Will the exceptional circumstances grounds be available to access electronically as part of public participation? It is one of my concerns. The officials have spoken of the benefits of online meetings, but the planning process is generally not online, particularly as it relates to An Bord Pleanála. I have other concerns around applications for strategic housing development, SHD, applications and websites being taken down, making it impossible to go back and trawl through things electronically.

Will the substitute consent be enough to satisfy the Commission? Is that the Attorney General's advice? Is that why we have decided to do this in primary legislation?

Returning to online public meetings, it is very clear in the Bill and the debate in the Seanad that the question is about the use of the word "or". It is not online and a public meeting, and the change is permanent. The Bill clearly says "or". I understand the issue around the early pre-draft stages of the issues paper when it comes to a development plan.

I am also concerned about how the witnesses are speaking about public meetings and the driver of this change. I was particularly concerned to hear the comment about cranks or people with vested interests attending public meetings. I am concerned about the motivation for this change as opposed to the operation of it.

At the pre-draft stage, new issues are allowed to be introduced as part of the public consultation. Executives and city and county managers are quick to quote legislation, the powers of same and what is required under that legislation. This legislation references the term "online or". I ask the witnesses to clarify if new issues can be introduced by people at the pre-draft stage of the development plan process. Most of my amendments to a development plan were ruled out of order because they had not been introduced at the pre-draft or issue stages. I would like clarification on that issue.

On the ban on evictions, my understanding from the witness's response to Senator Cummins's questions is that one disapplies the other in the case of a registration. This is not actually a ban on evictions. It is a dispute resolution mechanism to allow for address of disputes around arrears as opposed to it being a ban on evictions. If that is the case, we should probably stop using the language of "ending a ban on evictions".

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