Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 682 relates to section 106 of the Bill, as the Deputy has said. He proposes to delete subsection (7), which provides that the commission cannot grant permission on appeal for a development that is not substantially the same as the development that was proposed to the planning authority and was subject to appeal. That is on page 230 of the Bill. This is an important provision and highlights the difference between the commission's appeal role and its decision-making function for direct applications. An appeal of a planning authority decision is not a new application. Generally, when making a decision on a planning application that is subject to appeal, the commission is required to consider the proper planning and sustainable development of the area concerned and the potential effects on the environment of the proposed development, having regard to a range of matters specified in legislation, including the provisions of the relevant development plan, submissions or observations received and relevant ministerial or Government policies, including statutory guidelines. While the commission can seek revised plans under section 103 and make a decision with modifications to the proposed development, these actions are within the overall context of not substantially altering the proposed development. The provision is intended to further strengthen the role of the development plan as the key foundation for decision-making in a particular administrative area and, consequently, to reinforce the central role that planning authorities have in the planning system. What is submitted as a planning application is substantially what is being determined by the commission in the event of appeal. The purpose is that someone basically does not put in something substantially different on appeal. It differentiates between a direct application and an appeal.