John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. On a related point, I believe the new section 257 corresponds with the old section 57. We do not have the corresponding Act here. Under this section, people can make a written request to a local authority to carry out works on a protected structure. It is essentially for a declaration that the works are exempt. A decision has to be made on that within a period of 12 weeks. If, as the owner of such a property, I believed the works would not materially affect the structure and I could do the work quickly, the advantage would be negated if the local authority were to take 12 weeks to make a decision on the application. At the end of the 12-week period, it could decide the building is not exempt and therefore the owner needs to apply for planning permission. The owner must then go into the planning process. Most owners decide to apply via the planning system, which clogs up local authority resources in that there is another planning application in the system that probably does not need to be there. I made this point to the officials when they attended the committee for the first session. In order for this provision to be of advantage in speeding up the process, the 12-week timeframe needs to be looked at. From a practical perspective, in what timeframe could a local authority make a decision on whether to make a declaration under this section? I am not making light of the process but surely a quicker timeframe is needed to make it advantageous to take this route given that the works are not of a significant nature and will not materially alter the building.

I am not making light of the process but surely if we want to go that route, a quicker time period would be advantageous given that the works are not of a significant nature and will not materially alter the building.