Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

This Bill will fundamentally change our country's planning laws, not necessarily for the better. Under section 3 of the Bill, if passed, major construction projects, including private ones, can be built without having to go through the normal planning process as we know it. These projects include waste incinerators, chemical treatment plants, major landfills, oil refineries, large oil and gas storage tanks, oil and gas pipelines, wind farms, electricity pylons, airports, sea ports, railway stations and many similar projects. All are contained in the new Schedule 7 to the Planning Act. There will be no right of appeal on these projects because they will go to An Bord Pleanála in the first place.

The right to appeal to the board, as we have traditionally known it, for these projects is being abolished. The right of the public to object is being diminished and the local authority is effectively being carved out of the process. The Minister spoke about the involvement of elected councillors. This is a sham. Their involvement, as proposed by the Minister, is nothing more than allowing them to make a recommendation. It is no more than they can do at planning meetings of their local authorities where they can express an opinion on a planning application but have no real say in the executive decision on whether permission is to be granted.

The right to go to the courts is being limited. An Bord Pleanála will be able retrospectively to rewrite a planning permission after the permission has been granted under section 25. On page 18 the Bill states that the Minister can tell An Bord Pleanála which planning applications should receive priority. The role of An Bord Pleanála is being fundamentally changed from its original and essential role as a planning appeals board to a planning authority of first instance. There will be no planning appeals system for major projects covered by the Bill.

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