Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann approves the following regulations in draft:

Planning and Development Regulations 2005,

copies of which were laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 16 June 2005.

I am pleased to move this motion, the adoption of which by both Houses of the Oireachtas will pave the way for the planning and development regulations to be amended in three different ways: first, to make it a requirement for shops that wish to change into an off-licence or to sell alcohol to obtain planning permission; second, to facilitate consideration of the need for an environmental impact assessment, EIA, of peat extraction projects, that are currently exempted development, by referring to criteria set out in the environmental impact assessment directive; and, third, to reflect in the Irish planning regulations a technical change to annex I and annex II of the environmental impact assessment directive which lists project categories that require environmental impact assessment. The change is needed because the environmental impact assessment directive has been amended by the Aarhus Directive 2003/35/EC.

Positive approval of this House is needed for any change to the exemptions under the planning code, whether the change adds an exemption or limits exemptions, as these changes do. I had suggested that these changes would be discussed in an Oireachtas committee. I believe that would have been a much better approach from the point of view of everybody in the House but particularly from the point of view of the Opposition. It would have been a good and appropriate use of committee time. That format would have allowed for a freer and more extensive exchange of views than is possible in the 60 minutes we have available in the House.

As Members will know, I have for a long time been an advocate of the more extensive use of parliamentary committees, particularly for technical issues such as those under discussion here, not least because it allows the Opposition parties to make a positive input. Members will accept that I have been forthcoming in that regard. I have always been willing to listen and involve the Opposition and, where possible, to change. Oddly, the proposition was opposed by the Green Party and I am mystified as to why it chose to do that. The party is not represented here now so we will probably never know.

The first amendment will require shop owners who wish to change the use of their premises to an off-licence to obtain planning permission. Under the planning and development regulations 2001, a change of use from a shop to an off-licence does not currently require planning permission. This has always struck me as very odd. Planning permission is needed to open a chipper, for example, yet no planning permission is needed to open a full-blown off-licence to sell all forms of beer, wines and spirits. Whatever about chippers, there is no shortage of off-licence outlets. The Commission on Liquor Licensing, Interim Report on Off-Licensing, published in May 2001, evidently shared my long-held view on this. It recommended that permission should be needed for a change of shop use to an off-licence.

The number of shops changing use to off-licence or expanding into the sale of alcohol has increased significantly in recent years. The increase in off-licences has arisen both from changes to the restrictions on the transfer of an intoxicating liquor licence and from changes in the way in which people socialise and drink. These changes have had an impact on our streets and communities. There is therefore a land use issue that must be tackled through the planning code. By bringing the matter into the planning code I am giving local communities and councillors a say in the matter.

I have therefore decided to amend the definition of a shop in the planning and development regulations 2001 so that a shop changing use to that of an off-licence, or expanding what it sells to include alcohol, will in future require planning permission. The change will not affect the sale of wine as a subsidiary to the main use of the premises as a shop. The sale of wine from a corner fridge, which is a minor element of the overall trade of the shop, will not be affected by this change. Lest Members jump to any conclusion, they should note that the Commission on Liquor Licensing supported my conclusion on this matter.

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