Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

The effect of the proposed amendment, as I understand it, is to give the Minister a specific power to make regulations on a standard process for pre-application consultations. In this regard, section 33 of the Act already provides that the Minster may "by regulations provide for such matters of procedure and administration as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient in respect of applications for permission for the development of land." Accordingly, I do not consider that the proposed amendment is necessary.

Under section 247 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, a person who has an interest in land and who intends to make a planning application to the planning authority may, with the agreement of the planning authority concerned, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, enter into pre-application consultations on the proposed development. Section 247 also provides that a planning authority is required to keep a written record of such pre-consultation meetings.

My Department's development management guidelines for planning authorities, issued in June 2007, are a step by step guide to all stages of the planning application process, beginning with pre-application consultations. They give extensive recommendations to planning authorities on the matter of pre-application consultations and state that requests for consultations should be facilitated speedily - ideally within two to three weeks. I do not see any difficulty in today's climate of that not happening. These are statutory guidelines issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and planning authorities are obliged to have regard to them in carrying out their planning functions. I will consider whether it is necessary to issue further recommendations to planning authorities on this matter. In doing so I believe that takes into account the spirit if not the letter of the Deputy's intention.

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