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

The Minister of State is saying the national planning statements are not law but are policy. I ask him to expand on that. If the Bill is passed with this wording, would it be lawful to disregard or ignore the national planning statements? What status do they have? Do they have the same status as law, whereby it would be illegal to disregard them, or is it lawful to disregard them? I ask the Minister of State to explain how they work. Either they have a legal footing, where they must be followed, or they do not. If they are some kind of optional policy that has no legal footing or legal basis, that is not my understanding. My understanding is that they must be followed.

The list contained within them goes beyond what would be covered by policies. For example, section 24 states:

(j) protection of structures, parts of structures, or specified features of structures, which are of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest;

(k) preserving the character of architectural conservation areas;

These are important areas. I have no issue with that or with there being consistency in these. However, if this is just policy and does not have the weight of the law behind it, presumably these things can be flouted, ignored and disregarded. What is the legal basis or otherwise for the national planning statements? How robust are they?

On the issue of robustness, has the Minister of State received advice that not having Oireachtas approval for national planning statements makes them just as robust as they would be with Oireachtas approval? Has he sought advice on that? Is there advice on it? One might believe that with Oireachtas approval, they would have a stronger basis. Does the Minister of State have advice on that? If so, I ask him to share it with us.