Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is probably a good point to commend the Bills Office on doing this. If there are any anomalies I presume it is due to the fact it had a very large volume of amendments submitted by us. It is as much on us as anyone else.

Amendment No. 1042 is a very straightforward amendment. It aims to replace the role of the Minister in approving any proposed changes to the fees and fee structure for what is currently An Bord Pleanála - but which could become the planning commission, or an coimisiún pleanála - with a role for the Oireachtas. We had very lengthy debates in pre-legislative scrutiny and it is the view of pretty much most of us that we need to move to full cost recovery in respect of planning authorities. An Bord Pleanála effectively already has this for some of its decisions. There is, however, an ongoing concern that the imposition of fees on third parties is actually an obstacle to public participation in the planning processes and is probably in contravention of the requirements under the environmental impact assessment directive and the Aarhus Convention. The amendment seeks to provide an additional layer of scrutiny to ensure there is no attempt to reduce public participation, which is in the main a very positive thing in our planning process. We believe there should be Oireachtas committee involvement in this.