Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to discuss with the committee the Planning and Development Act (Exempted Development) Regulations 2022. There are certain specific items to address within the regulations. The proposed regulations amend provisions in the principal planning and development regulations 2001-21 relating to development that is exempt from the requirement to obtain planning permission. Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, each House of the Oireachtas is required to approve draft planning regulations relating to exempted development by way of a positive resolution before they can be signed into law by me, as Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. That is why it is important that consideration by the committee today of these draft changes to regulations is part of that approval process. I appreciate the time afforded to the matter by the committee.

The Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2018 came into operation in February 2018 and were introduced under the previous Government’s Rebuilding Ireland plan. They provided for an exemption from the requirement to obtain planning permission in respect of a change of use of certain vacant commercial premises, including vacant areas above ground-floor premises, to residential use. I will go into a little detail on this. The measure has facilitated the productive reuse of qualifying vacant commercial buildings as homes, while also facilitating urban renewal and bringing on stream increased housing supply. We want that to improve further. I want to extend those regulations out.

I know the committee has done a significant amount of work on and the Government is serious about tackling the scourge that is vacancy. I have visited many areas across the country, including many regional towns, cities and villages. I recently visited Waterford with Senator Cummins, where I saw some of the excellent work being done there to bring vacant properties back into use. As part of that, we want to see what other vacant properties we can bring back that we can exempt from seeking permission. An obvious category of such properties is that of vacant public houses. That was clear after my trip to Waterford with Senator Cummins, as well as my trips to Limerick and other locations. Unfortunately, there will be more vacant public houses. Many public houses are prominent buildings in towns, villages and cities across the country. To me, it makes eminent sense that those public houses will fall under these exemptions. That is what I am proposing fundamentally to the committee.

One aspect is to extend the current exemptions out to 2025 and to add to those exemptions the use of vacant public houses under the existing criteria. That will mean planning permission will not be required to convert those units into residential units. In fairness, all members of the committee, of all different political backgrounds, have regularly and rightly highlighted the issue of above-shop use of vacant premises. There is more work to be done post these regulations, but it is interesting to see the impact of the existing regulations brought in by the previous Government. The take-up year on year is increasing. In 2021, the most recent full year, there were 283 notifications. Although one does not have to receive planning permission, one does have to notify the local authority within two weeks of commencing the work. There were 283 notifications, which will bring in 676 new residential units. That is not something to be sniffed at, in my view. It is really good use of empty space and vacant properties. In total, since the regulations came into operation in 2018, 1,400 residential units have been brought in. Frankly, I think we can do a lot better. More people need to know about these exemptions.

As regards public houses, there is a real opportunity. There will be a couple of conditions around that. It is effectively introducing a new class into these regulations. I thank Senator Cummins for his input into and intervention on this. We are not seeking to maintain a restriction of 250 sq. m. I know the Senator met with officials on that issue. Such a restriction might be too onerous in the context of what is the licence piece and what is the non-licence piece and that creates a whole complication within it. My clear view - this is a slight amendment to the written statement provided to members - is that we should leave the 250 sq. m restriction aside. I am not proposing to have that 250 sq. m restriction. What I am doing, however, and it is important for larger premises, is ensuring we will maintain the current level of nine residential units. The reason for that is that there are some, though not many, vacant superpubs. It makes sense to me that planning would be sought through a local authority for bigger developments such as that. We will maintain the current maximum of nine residential units in any such structure.

We will extend the exemptions right the way through to 2025. We will bring in the new class, which is public houses, and we will continue to keep this under review. Members can see there has been an increase year on year. There is capacity to do a lot more. I and the Government will be bringing forward other measures, such as in respect of town and village renewal, the Croí Cónaithe fund and grants that will be available but in the medium term it is sensible for these measures to continue and to actually change them in the context of public houses as that can make a significant difference. We will continue to keep this under review.

If the committee endorses what we wish to do, I hope to bring the draft regulations before the Dáil and the Seanad next week to get them approved. We could have them in place by the end of next week. Obviously, we are letting all local authorities and relevant people know. This is a significant step forward. I have digressed from the statement that was provided to the committee. I am sure all members have had an opportunity to read it in detail. The main change relates to the setting aside of the 250 sq. m restriction.