Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Following on from the Chairman's questions, head 8 relates to section 5 applications. From what I know, this is a very important measure at the moment. It means that in the case of alleged unauthorised development where the planning authority or council believes it to be an exempted development, members of the public are given the ability to challenge that view. People can get a formal declaration and if they do not agree with the formal declaration from the local authority, they can appeal that to An Bord Pleanála. This is an important measure to be able to hold local authorities to account for their decisions around exempted developments, enforcement action and so forth. By removing it, I do not see anything in the Bill to replace that. This is the question specifically. Does the Department have any data on how many section 5 declarations sought by the public have been overturned by An Bord Pleanála? That would be an important piece of data to see whether this process has been effective.