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

During our pre-legislative scrutiny, one of the things that came through very strongly from multiple sources, including practitioners within the system, was that any form of fines, the equivalent of fines or financial disincentives for planning authorities will inevitably lead to two things. First, they will lead to applications that may have been granted permission being refused because there will be an incentive not to go for an extension if there is a financial penalty for the planning authority involved, which is what the Minister is proposing in this section. Indeed, exactly as he stated, rather than going for an extension of time, a way to get an extension of time is to look for further information or additional information. That makes for a longer process. If the desire is to get a more efficient system, the clear advice we received during pre-legislative scrutiny was that these kinds of provisions with fines, the equivalent of fines, financial penalties or whatever for planning authorities will lead to a set of outcomes we do not want and that would not be desirable within a well-functioning planning system. That is what the people who represent professional planners and others working in the system told us. We should listen to people who work in the system on a day-to-day basis when they warn very clearly that financial penalties for planning authorities will backfire and will run contrary to what the Minister is trying to do with the planning system.