Mr. Padraig McNally:

The Association of Irish Local Government thanks the committee for inviting it to make a presentation on the general scheme of the planning and development (No. 1) Bill 2014. We bring to the table the experiences of elected local authority members for whom planning related issues are a central concern in their work as public representatives. With the possible exception of roads, there is no other local government issue which generates so much of a councillor’s workload as planning. That planning law and practice is an ever-evolving area is underlined by the fact that the Bill under discussion is the latest in a series of legislative Acts brought through the Houses of the Oireachtas since the first Planning and Development Act in 1963.

The committee will notice a diversity of viewpoints in our presentations today.

This reflects the reality that our members represent a great variety of planning environments across the country. Some of our members are rooted in Ireland at its most rural, where councillors are working to sustain communities badly in need of new development of all kinds. Yet more of our members are based in city centre or inner suburban communities where there are extensive vacant or brownfield sites which could prove a viable solution to the demand for more housing sites in such urban locations.

Therefore, the Association of Irish Local Governmentrepresents a broad church and essentially our role is to act as a conduit of opinion and information from elected members and how they see the new Bill in terms of its contribution to their communities. This can lead to quite different viewpoints as regards the individual amendments specified in the new Bill. This is not as a result of a difference of opinion, rather it indicates our determination to ensure that the Bill does not become a "one size fits all" piece of legislation but rather has the flexibility to enable local government to do what it does best – plan for the circumstances unique to the locality in question whether that be a rural, suburban or urban locality.

Having said that, the association appreciates the intention of the Bill which, among other initiatives, is to bring clarity to the operation of what are termed the Part V requirements regarding the provision of social and affordable housing by developers. There is also a welcome for the provisions designed to prompt the resumption of construction on land areas zoned for housing where construction is not actively under way arising from the wide variety of circumstances – some of them outside of the planning remit such as the availability of finance and mortgages. Similarly, the Bill also has relevance to what are termed "brownfield sites" where sites in inner urban areas lie unused representing a loss in terms of the public investment in utilities which serve such central urban areas.

We would now like to make some specific points regarding individual measures in the heads of Bill as published. I wish to draw attention to the provisions on voluntary housing agencies in Part V. We feel they carry out a very important function, however, there is a need for greater regulation of them. We need more joined-up thinking by the voluntary housing agencies with local authorities and other bodies in trying to solve the problem of housing.

Issues may evolve as a result of our discussion with the joint committee. We as an organisation would be willing to meet at short notice if that would benefit the committee's examination of the plan.

I now hand over to the vice president of the Association of Irish Local Government, Mr. Colm Brophy, who will make specific points on the general scheme of the planning and development (No. 1) Bill.