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

The Planning and Development Act already includes a general exceptional circumstances test with regard to material contraventions in planning applications. The problem is, as we saw with the SHD process - and this speaks to Deputy Duffy's point - a much higher number of material contraventions were sought, granted and then overturned in the courts. If a local authority planning department approves a planning application that materially contravenes the county development plan, there is no requirement for a vote by the elected members. People appeal such decisions to the board, which decides whether to proceed with them. We need to weed out those applications involving a material contravention, excluding those that the Minister, with the good guidance of his officials and, I suspect, some advice from the Irish Planning Institute and others, would frame by way of regulations.

Otherwise, Deputy Duffy is correct. Certain categories of developers will always seek to push the boundaries beyond the development plan.

I am also alerting the Minister to the fact we already have a problem whereby the board is looking at high-level policy objectives, for example, with respect to compact growth, and approving planning applications that are in clear contravention of city and county development plans, even where it is clear the city and county development plan is compliant with the housing needs demand assessment provided by the Minister or the more granular application of the high-level planning objectives in the national planning framework.

I acknowledge he will not accept the amendment, so I will not labour the point. I urge him to consider how we can weed out planning applications to this new process that materially contravene the development plan where that is clearly not appropriate. I ask him to talk to his officials about the issue before Report Stage and I reserve the right to return to the issue then.