Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 February 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Danielle Conaghan:

I will answer Deputy Ó Broin's three questions as quickly as I can. As to whether there is a perverse incentive for developers to do less of a job when they submit their application, there is zero risk of that. This is specific to the wind sector but also generally to any development sector, every single member will get a legal review done of their planning application because it is so difficult to get it right. There is so much law out there and it is continually evolving and the bar keeps getting higher, so there is no fear of that.

On the second question about the fixing power disenfranchising the Judiciary, the more I think about it, the onus should be on the decision-maker to fix an error it has made because it is obliged to make its decision in accordance with the law. That is its obligation and that is the expectation that everyone has when they enter into the process, either as a developer or someone who is coming to the process to engage in it and make submissions on it. I do not think the fixing power disenfranchises the Judiciary. When it comes to the OPR-----

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