Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Amendment No. 45 provides that the Minister shall lay a draft schedule of future legislation to deal with the following topics before the Oireachtas and committee, as mentioned by the members: reform of CPO powers, land value sharing tax, implementation of planning recommendations from the report of the expert committee on Traveller accommodation, and legislation relevant to the Act that addresses the State’s Paris climate agreement commitments to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment.

I do not propose to accept this amendment because it is not appropriate to set in an Act what future amendments will be made to it. If, after the Bill is enacted, it is decided that future amendments are necessary to address certain matters, then the necessary arrangements will be put in place to do so and there will be engagement with the committee on this, as there is with all legislation.

Specifically on the reform of CPO legislation, the Bill includes provisions regarding CPO powers for local authorities. The provisions replicate the provisions in the 2000 Planning and Development Act.

In March 2023, the Law Reform Commission published a report on the compulsory acquisition of land, which was referenced by Deputies. The Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Bill deal with the acquisition, or compulsory purchase, of the site and the LRC report deals with the process after the CPO has been confirmed, mainly dealing with the valuation process. As the LRC report was published while the Bill was being prepared, Government made a decision that the CPO provisions in the Bill should reflect those in the current Act and that a more comprehensive review of CPO provisions, looking at both the steps up to when the CPO has been confirmed as well as the steps after that, should be undertaken and should also take into account the LRC report. If appropriate, further legislation will then be brought forward. No decision has been made on the format of this legislation, whether it would be a stand-alone Bill or amend existing legislation.

On land value sharing tax, LVS proposals are being progressed by our Department, the OPC and the Office of the Attorney General with the intention to publish the Bill in quarter 1 of 2024 for introduction into the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Specifically on the planning recommendations from the report of the expert group on Traveller accommodation, the expert review report, which is intended to improve the effectiveness of the arrangements for providing accommodation for members of the Traveller community, has 32 recommendations across four categories, as follows: category A - delivery reflecting need, which is aimed at addressing deficiencies in how information is gathered and used; category B - planning, which is aimed at removing any potential delays and obstacles in the planning system in terms of delivery; category C - capacity and resources, which is aimed at increasing resources and delivery capacity; and category D - governance, which is aimed at strengthening governance arrangements. The programme board selected 27 out of the 32 recommendations for inclusion in the ongoing work programme. To date, ten of these 27 recommendations have been completed.

On legislation to address the State’s Paris climate agreement commitment to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment, it is the function of planning to promote development, which is in the interests of the proper planning and sustainable development of an area. The challenge of mitigating and adapting to climate change is central to planning through the promotion of more sustainable formats of development, for example, more compact urban growth. However, at its heart, the operation of the planning system, which this legislation governs, is the working out of countervailing elements, including those directly related to sustainability, for example, efficient use of land in the provision of particular forms of development, with the promotion of compact urban development or the decarbonisation of our power systems with other environmental considerations.

In respect of the issue of dealing with embodied carbon in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation, this is a highly complex and multifactorial task. It encompasses many areas not directly related to the scope of this Bill, for example, the sourcing and type of materials used in construction. This is a matter more relevant to building control legislation. In view of this, the application of overarching climate adaptation goals being applied to multifactorial planning decisions solely though planning legislation would not be appropriate, effective or practical.

Returning to the CPO powers and the point raised by Deputy McAuliffe, we have been in discussions with Uisce Éireann about CPO. It uses CPO powers under the 2000 Act. This will be dealt with by way of an amendment on Report Stage. In addition, the Water Services Act needs to be amended in line with that.