Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Since the establishment of the OPR in April 2019 and pursuant to section 31AM(1) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as inserted by the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018, the office has responsibility for the evaluation of the making or varying of development plans. This is an independent function of the office, which also has a statutory function to issue advice, where relevant, to the Minister or Minister of State in respect of matters relating to the making or varying of development plans.

In regard to the statutory process set out for the development plan review process in the legislation, and pursuant to sections 11(2), 12(1)(a), 12(5)(aa) and 12(7)(a) in particular, the planning authority is obliged to notify the OPR of the various stages of the development plan review process. Any observations and recommendations of the OPR that are made to the planning authority at each stage of the development plan review process are copied to the Minister in accordance with section 31AM(3)(b).

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