Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 December 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Planning and Development Bill 2020: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Mr. Eamonn Kelly:

Effectively, yes. I do not know if now is the time to answer Deputy Cian O'Callaghan's questions but the new provisions will require a whole new set of public consultations and a new phase. There will be new public notices. All the information will be available online and An Bord Pleanála, which is the competent authority, will have it so even if a person was not involved before he or she can get involved at the second stage. It is akin to a request for further information. When applications are in planning or when there is a new public notice up, anybody can come along and participate. It is not only those who were involved previously. It is as wide a net as possible.