Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Matthews. I will now address amendments Nos. 774, 1145 to 1148, inclusive, 1151 and 1152.

Amendment No. 774 seeks to amend section 159(4) which provides that, where the planning authority declares an application invalid for reasons such as not having all the correct documentation or not being a standard development, that is, a development that is decided, in the first instance, by a planning authority, instead of returning the application fee as is currently provided for, the fee with a deduction for a planning service administrative fee as prescribed would be returned. I cannot accept this amendment as the purpose of validating an application is to avoid unnecessary administrative and technical resources being deployed. As this process is carried out at a very initial stage and the application is returned, I consider that such a deduction would require the expenditure of administrative resources unnecessarily and would be punitive in nature.