Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021 and I thank all colleagues for facilitating the urgent passage of this important legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas. I am bringing forward the Bill as a matter of urgency in order to address the delays and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic on the completion of construction projects, including housing projects, and for the completion of development plan programmes, in particular, having regard to arrangements for consultation with elected members and the public. The Bill will also bring forward urgently needed amendments to the ministerial order procedure of the planning Act to ensure such orders will apply to development by or on behalf of statutory undertakers, and amendments to the Fifth Schedule to the Planning and Development Act 2000, which I will go into a little more detail shortly.

Due to the urgent need for this legislation, I made a request to the Business Committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas to waive the requirement for pre-legislative scrutiny of this general scheme by the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The waiver was granted earlier this month following a briefing session by my officials with the members of the joint committee.

With regard to the purpose of the Bill, the first two provisions I will discuss are proposed in the context of delays and disruption to certain elements of the planning system as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. The first provision proposes, at sections 2, 6 and 8, to allow a planning authority, should it so decide, to take an additional period of up to one year over and above the statutory period set out in the Planning and Development Act 2000 to prepare a new development plan for its area. Some local authorities have indicated that, while they have remained open for business despite Covid-19 restrictions and have facilitated public participation in the plan-making process, the restrictions have resulted in unavoidable disruption to the development plan programme, in particular, the arrangements relating to consultation with elected members and the public.

Colleagues will agree that public participation is a core principle of the planning and development system. It requires that people have the opportunity to participate in decisions at the strategic plan-making level and the individual planning application level. The public participation elements of the planning system were previously recognised as an essential service in SI 448 of 2020 and were not, therefore, subject to travel restrictions. The mandatory requirement to hold public meetings in relation to a proposed development plan has been replaced with the obligation for planning authorities to consult members of the public in such manner as they consider appropriate and to invite submissions in writing from members of the public in relation to a proposed development plan, which may include the holding of a public meeting.

Notwithstanding this, some planning authorities have indicated that it has been necessary to delay certain stages of the plan-making process to ensure the appropriate level of engagement with the planning system can be facilitated with elected members and members of the public and the other practical matters that have arisen from this can be addressed. As a result, they may not be able to finalise the new development plan within the statutory time periods set out in the Act.

I propose, therefore, that where a planning authority requires additional time to prepare a new development plan, it would need to consider and set out the reasons for doing so, and it would need to extend the duration of the existing development plan accordingly, taking appropriate account of any potential environmental effect or any effect on a designated European site which might result, in line with the requirements of the strategic environmental assessment and habitats directives.

The Bill was passed by the Seanad without opposition. Following engagement with Senators, I have amended the original Bill to reduce the threshold of a 75% majority of elected members to a simple majority to initiate such an extension of duration. As colleagues know, a development plan is a reserve function of our county and city councillors. It is wholly appropriate that it is they who decide by simple majority as to whether a local authority wishes to extend its development plan process because of difficulties that have arisen due to logistical difficulties, in particular with regard to public consultation due to Covid. It is not an obligation. Many local authorities that have been in contact have proceeded further along the line with their development plans and there will be no need for this. However, more than 15 authorities have directly contacted the Department to express that they have had difficulties with certain aspects, particularly with regard to public consultation. We will leave it to the locally elected members who represent their communities to make this decision as to whether a local authority wishes to extend its development plan process by one year.

The second key provision, in section 7, is grounded in the need to ensure the timely delivery of housing and the completion of construction projects, in the context of delays and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This amendment to the Planning Act will allow, on a temporary basis, for further extensions of planning permission previously extended where those developments were commenced with substantial works carried out by a period of up to two years or until 31 December 2023, whichever first occurs.

The general scheme of the Bill, as approved by Cabinet this month, had originally provided for a single year of further extension. However, following further consultation and on reflection, noting that this provision would only be available where the extension is required to enable the completion of a development where substantial works have been carried out, an extension of up to two years, subject to a sunset clause of 31 December 2023, was considered appropriate. This was considered to be a reasonable period to respond not only to the direct delays to construction work caused by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past year but also to reflect the possible additional disruption to logistics, supply chains, and availability of personnel when trying to get construction work restarted after the shutdown and finished after the mandatory and unplanned second closure of building sites over the past year.

This provision will also allow for the further extension of permission that has expired or is due to expire during the period from 8 January 2021, when the most recent construction restrictions were introduced, to the day before section 7 comes into operation. Such applications must be lodged within six months after the commencement of this provision. Any further extensions will be subject to a condition that environmental assessment is not required in relation to the proposed extension of time. If an environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment is required then a fresh planning application will need to be made in order to continue the development, as this allows for updated environmental assessments and public participation in the process.

Separate to these Covid-19 related amendments, section 9 contains a proposal to amend the ministerial order provisions in section 181 of the 2000 Act, for the avoidance of doubt, to include development by or on behalf of statutory undertakers. This amendment is being made at the request of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and on the advice of the Office of the Attorney General. Section 181 enables a Minister, by order, to disapply the 2000 Act to development to be carried out by or on behalf of that Minister or the OPW. The relevant Minister must be satisfied that the carrying out of the development is required by reason of an accident or emergency and the development may be subject to an environmental assessment procedure carried out by An Bord Pleanála before any order is made where such assessments are determined to be required.

The final provision, at section 10, involves a proposal to amend the Fifth Schedule to the Planning and Development Act 2000, which sets out conditions that may be imposed as part of a planning permission without attracting compensation. The new provision relates to a very important condition which restricts the persons of a particular class or description who may use a dwelling which has been approved as part of the planning permission.

I thank colleagues for their time and for allowing the Bill to be brought forward at relatively short notice. I look forward to the debate on the Bill's provisions. I will seek to respond to any questions raised on Second Stage and as we move through the other Stages.

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