Ms Mary Kelly:

I thank the Chairman for the invitation to address the committee on the outline heads of the Bill. I am the chairman of An Bord Pleanála. I am accompanied by Mr. Des Johnson, director of planning, and Mr. Gerald Egan, director of corporate affairs.

An Bord Pleanála has kept itself apprised of developments in respect of the publication of the outline heads of the Bill and the developments leading up to it. The board is represented on an interdepartmental foreshore advisory group by one of our assistant directors of planning. We made a detailed submission to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government earlier this year in response to the consultation paper A New Planning and Consent Architecture for Development in the Marine Area. We also made a written submission to this committee. It expands on a number of points that I will make in my brief opening statement. We will be very happy to answer any questions members may have afterwards. In the written submission, we raised a number of technical issues that will need to be considered further at drafting stage. We will be talking to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government about them.

Let me deal with the key provisions of the Bill. As members are aware, the main ones relate to the alignment of the foreshore consent regime with the normal planning system; the creation of a new nearshore area as a subsection of the foreshore; the definition of an Irish maritime area encompassing foreshore; the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf; provision for the future designation of particular zones within the maritime area; the introduction of maritime options enabling project proponents to reserve a portion of the maritime area for a limited period while applying for the necessary development consents; the planning regulation of offshore commercial gas storage facilities by categorising such facilities as strategic infrastructure, with An Bord Pleanála as consent authority; and amendments to the Dumping at Sea Acts.

An Bord Pleanála welcomes the important initiatives introduced in the Bill for the maritime area in respect of strengthening the policy framework through mandatory objectives for the nearshore in statutory development plans, and also in simplifying and clarifying the development consent process. These initiatives will facilitate a plan-led approach and consistency in decision-making. The clear separation of the estate management or property management function, as exercised through foreshore leasing and licensing by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, and the development consent function, as exercised by planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála, will resolve potential conflicts between the interest of the State in seeking to maximise its revenue from the licensing of State property and the public interest in ensuring developments in the maritime area are acceptable in planning and environmental terms.

The board supports the principle of a proposed division of the development consent function between itself and the planning authorities. This division will allow for an efficient consent process, minimise duplication and provide certainty for prospective developers. For projects requiring an environmental impact assessment, EIA, or appropriate assessment, it is clear that the planning system is responsible for the carrying out of the relevant assessments under the EIA and habitats directives which must be completed before consent is given. These assessments are project based, and the provisions of the Bill facilitate their completion by a single authority, in this case An Bord Pleanála, in the planning regulatory system. Owing to the nature of applications for foreshore licenses or leases, these will not require separate assessments under the EIA and habitats directives by the relevant Ministers. The board welcomes this clarification.

Other important initiatives include the definition in law of an Irish maritime area and the requirement for mandatory coastal zone management objectives to be included in development plans for development in the new nearshore area. The board regards these as very important provisions. The defining of an Irish maritime area could provide a national framework for the future production of a marine spatial plan or a series of marine spatial plans. In turn, this would further facilitate a plan-led approach to the development consent process and consistency in decision-making in the planning and licensing systems. Similarly, the requirement for coastal planning authorities to include mandatory objectives in their statutory plans for developments in the nearshore area should provide a strong policy framework for decision-making in the planning process.

On the subject of An Bord Pleanála as a key planning regulator in the existing foreshore process, under planning legislation the board already plays a key role in the regulation of development on the foreshore, namely in deciding on planning appeals against development consents on the foreshore that would have been issued by planning authorities and in deciding on local authority applications wholly or partly on the foreshore under sections 226 or 227 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. We have had the latter power since 2001 and have been exercising it. The board also has a role in deciding on other local authority applications that require an EIA or appropriate assessment and which are made directly to the board and in deciding on strategic infrastructure applications on land that are made directly to the board. We have been doing that for a number of years. The appeals and applications coming before the board for a decision vary greatly in their nature, scale and complexity. Many of them already require an EIA or appropriate assessment.

The Bill foresees an extended role for An Bord Pleanála in a new streamlined process. There is a new function in the assessment of offshore gas storage facilities.

Let me deal with the regulatory role proposed for An Bord Pleanála in the Bill.

We consider that An Bord Pleanála would be the appropriate consent authority as proposed in the Bill for many reasons, including the following. An Bord Pleanála has operated as a planning regulatory authority since 1977 and has a national remit. We operate a timely, coherent and transparent decision-making process for a wide range of development types varying in size and complexity, some of which I have just outlined to the committee. An Bord Pleanála has concluded 180 strategic infrastructure applications since the enactment of the 2006 Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act. We have developed extensive experience in determining planning appeals, many involving issues relevant to the foreshore. We also have experience in processing and deciding direct applications for large and complex proposals, many of which involve assessments under the European Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats directives.

An Bord Pleanála has also nurtured and retained a broad range of skills, qualifications and technical knowledge in the planning and environmental fields among its inspectorate and administrative staff. We have a highly qualified planning inspectorate with expertise in areas such as EIA, AA and coastal zone management, all of which are relevant to the developments we are talking about here in the maritime area. We also have extensive experience in holding pre-application consultations, presiding over oral hearings and the assessment of complex planning issues, all of which are relevant to the issue before us today.

We in An Bord Pleanála broadly welcome the key provisions set out in the Bill. From what we can see, they will facilitate a plan-led approach to the future development of the maritime area, aligning the foreshore consent process with the planning system, reducing duplication in the consent framework, involving a single EIA, and providing for a single-stage development consent process both for onshore and offshore elements of strategic infrastructure projects with An Bord Pleanála as the consent authority.

We will be happy to take any questions that members of the committee may wish to ask.