Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Dooley for bringing forward this Private Members' Bill and acknowledge it is well-intentioned in its aim to address some of the issues the Deputy has outlined which occurred last year with regard to the fiasco to which he referred. It gives me an opportunity to set out the Government's position and I am happy to debate it with the Deputy. The response to it from the Government is all about striking the balance in licensing large-scale events. I am happy to outline this in more detail in my response.

Deputy Dooley's Bill, which essentially proposes amendments to the event licensing provisions in the Planning and Development Act, is short and succinct and comprises two main elements. It proposes that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government can review and overturn the decision of a local authority regarding an event licence application if the Minister deems the event is of national or cultural importance. It also proposes that the Minister can remove conditions attached by a local authority to an event licence.

Second, it proposes that the Minister can remove conditions attached by a local authority to an event licence.

The Bill is silent on the meaning of the term "events of national or cultural importance". I would have liked to see more detail on that definition.

Deputy Dooley's Bill is a repeat of a Private Members' Bill tabled last year on the same subject, and we all know the background to this Bill, as has been explained to the House. It relates to issues that arose in relation to the granting of event licences at Croke Park last year, specifically the number of events that could be held at the venue over the period of a calendar year.

The 1993 planning permission for the redevelopment of Croke Park allows for the holding of three special events, such as concerts, per calendar year subject to the approval of an event management plan by Dublin City Council. Any further events in excess of this number require the submission of an event licence application by the promoters of the events to Dublin City Council. I note that the Deputy mentioned Thomond Park and other venues. The Aviva Stadium and Thomond Park have planning permission for three specific events by condition.

The problems that arose last year occurred when, after three events had already been held at Croke Park under the terms of its planning permission, an application for a licence for further events on five consecutive nights in July was submitted. This was exacerbated by the advertising and selling of tickets for all five nights prior to the submission of the application for the necessary event licences. Even though Dublin City Council subsequently granted a licence for three of the five additional concerts, the promoter and artist in question eventually cancelled the concerts for all five nights, leaving many people who had purchased tickets disappointed. As Deputy Dooley acknowledged, it was also a huge blow to the economy.

Dublin City Council cited a number of reasons for its decision to grant a licence for three of the nights applied for. These included the scale and number of concerts proposed; the anticipated attendance of in excess of 80,000 people per night over five consecutive nights, which would be unprecedented for Croke Park; the fact that the stadium is located in a heavily populated residential area; and also that holding concerts on five consecutive nights, in addition to the three that had already been held, would represent an over-intensification of the use of the stadium, imposing an unfair burden and level of disruption on local residents.

Moving on to the specific content of Deputy Dooley's Bill, I note that the planning system has been modified in recent decades to specifically preclude political interference or involvement in planning-related decisions. As we all know, political interference in the planning system has in the past caused many problems, leading among other things to long and costly tribunals, and it is important that we do not return to those times. In this regard, section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 specifically precludes the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government from exercising any power or control in any particular case with which a planning authority, or An Bord Pleanála on appeal, is or may be concerned. In proposing to bring the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government back into the planning decision-making process, albeit only in relation to event licences, Deputy Dooley's Bill runs contrary to these section 30 provisions which have established an important principle that political interference in the planning system should no longer be allowed. We have moved on from this and we should not be returning to past practices.

In addition, conditions attaching to event licences are generally concerned with public safety issues and mitigating against possible risks, including securing the safety of those attending the venue, maintaining public order, noise and traffic management, and the minimisation of disruption to the neighbourhood in which the event is to be held. Such matters, which are dealt with by way of conditions attached to licences, are most appropriately dealt with at local level by local authorities in consultation with the principal response agencies, while also having regard to the views of local residents, and should not involve the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Arising from the events of last year, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, announced a comprehensive review of the event licensing legislative regime with a view to preventing this type of scenario from happening again, establishing a review group for this purpose comprising representatives of all relevant stakeholders. The review group conducted its deliberations over the period October 2014 to March 2015 and submitted recommendations to the Minister and me in April, following which I signed new amending event licensing regulations just last week, which will come into effect on 1 October this year.

The main changes incorporated in the new regulations include that it will now be mandatory for event promoters to have a pre-application consultation meeting with the relevant local authority prior to submitting an event licence application. Event licence applications will not be accepted by a local authority unless a pre-application consultation meeting has already taken place with the event promoter. Event promoters will not be entitled to advertise or sell tickets for events prior to the holding of a pre-application consultation meeting with the relevant local authority. Event licensing applications must be lodged with the relevant local authority at least 13 weeks in advance of the proposed event. Local authorities must make their decision on an event licence application no later than four weeks in advance of the proposed event. Where it is proposed to add performances to a schedule already announced, a further pre-application consultation meeting will be required to take place before the announcement of any additional dates.

Deputy Dooley is calling for more certainty and clarity and a better understanding. The fact that event promoters will not be entitled to advertise or sell tickets before a pre-application consultation meeting is a positive advance. It is a clear indication to promoters that a better understanding of the local authority's position can be secured at those meetings before advertising and selling tickets, which is what caused much of the hurt last year. These are improvements that will be welcomed generally. The new regulations, which were signed into law just last week, are intended to make the event licensing system more streamlined and fit for purpose, while also bringing greater order and certainty to the process for all parties involved. I am confident that the new regulations will prevent the type of scenario that arose last year from happening again and, accordingly, I oppose Deputy Dooley's Private Members' Bill.

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