Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all those who engaged in the debate on this Bill and for the facilitating of today's debate and for the further work that is going to go into this legislation, including Committee Stage amendments and trying to get the Bill through the Houses before the summer recess.

As the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, mentioned in his opening speech, the chief purpose of the Bill is to amend the substitute consent process, which concerns retrospective environmental impact assessments or appropriate assessments in exceptional circumstances, by removing the superfluous initial leave to apply stage. This initial stage did not involve public participation. Related provisions clarifying EIA and AA screening processes for planning authorities are also included.

Just to say, the delay in producing the legislation was unavoidable due to the complexities of the Bill as published in terms of the drafting from the Attorney General's office and notwithstanding the fact pre-legislative scrutiny had taken place a long number of months ago.

The Bill also provides that an existing provision that is presently solely available to certain quarry projects alone, to allow a simultaneous application for future development at the same time as a substitute consent application, is expanded to include all development types. This is to encourage remediation of existing unauthorised developments. Any perceived benefits to a section 37L future-facing application of being able to apply directly to the board, instead of having to separately apply to the relevant planning authority first, will be significantly outweighed by the inherent vulnerabilities and significant potential financial exposure if the related substitute consent application is refused. In such cases the relevant planning authority will be statutorily obliged to initiate enforcement proceedings against the unauthorised development seeking remediation of the site. Furthermore, the future-facing planning application on the same or adjoining site may also be refused as a result if, for example, it relies on any elements of the refused substitute consent proposal. In other words, the legislative proposal to allow parallel substitute consent and planning applications does not on balance provide an advantage to developers, noting the significant constraints and vulnerabilities for any developer attached to progressing a substitute consent proposal relating to unauthorised development, as well as noting the clear benefits to the public in allowing a parallel and holistic assessment of two related proposals on the same or adjoining sites to take place at the same time by the same assessment authority.

In the context of the wider planning system, substitute consent applications make for a very small, statistically insignificant percentage of the overall number of planning applications. However, this does not recognise the important role played by substitute consent in bringing certain unauthorised developments back into the planning process where they can be subjected to appropriate environmental oversight and regulation.

The Bill also serves as a vehicle to introduce a number of important legislative amendments that fall under the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I will detail them now.

The first Government amendment to be introduced on Committee Stage relates to short-term letting provisions in the Planning Act. The Government recognises the issue of the significant number of properties withdrawn from the long-term rental market in recent years that have instead been diverted for use as short-term lettings and the associated negative impact this has had on the supply and availability of private residential rental accommodation with associated knock-on implications for rental prices. Further amendments will be brought forward to address the issue. Supplementary to these new legislative provisions, the Minister proposes to issue new guidelines to planning authorities updating the criteria to be taken into account in determining applications for change of use planning permission in respect of short-term let properties in rent pressure zones, RPZs, having regard to the extraordinary pressures for properties currently prevailing in the private rental market.

The second set of Government amendments to be introduced on Committee Stage relates to ministerial directions on statutory plans as provided for in the Planning and Development Act. Since the April 2019 commencement and operation of the Office of the Planning Regulator on foot of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2018, a number of technical matters have come to light regarding the legislative procedures of section 31 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 including, but not limited to, sections 31AM and 31AN on development plans and variations, sections 31AO and 31AP on local area plans and the interrelationship of such. Minor and technical amendments are required to address cross-referencing, standardised wording, notifications and consistency in procedure for both the draft direction stage and the final direction stage. The technical and procedural amendments introduced by this Bill will provide clarity and consistency of language and procedure for all stakeholders including local authorities and the wider public.

The third set of Government amendments to be introduced relates to flexibility in planning applications in the Planning Act. These amendments address the decision of Mr. Justice Humphreys in the case of Peter Sweetman v. An Bord Pleanála, Ireland and the Attorney General and Bord na Móna Powergen regarding the design envelope approach for the submission of certain planning applications which require a degree of flexibility at planning application stage as the final details of the development may be unconfirmed at that stage.

The High Court judgment disapplies all such flexibilities and replaces them with a very limited range of flexibilities, which is insufficient for the operation of a modern and effective planning system.

The amendments contained in this Bill introduce a pre-application procedure for planning applications seeking a level of flexibility with regard to the details of the proposed development to be submitted as part of the application and are intended to legislate for an approach which facilitates flexibility while providing sufficient clarity to allow planning authorities to consider what level of information is appropriate on a case-by-case basis, while also providing appropriate safeguards for environmental assessment. While it is intended that the amendments will be of assistance to renewable energy applications in particular, the amendments are drafted to apply to all planning applications generally. Any request for flexibility must be considered by the planning authority or the board and an opinion will only be issued where the planning authority or the board considers, given the specific circumstances of the planning application, that it is appropriate for the application to be made on a flexible basis.

The next set of Government amendments to be introduced on Committee Stage relate to the judicial review proceedings in the Planning and Development Act. New amendments will require the court to consider whether there is an adequate appeal or other available administrative remedy and if so, it should not grant leave. This is not as absolute as the amendment that was originally proposed but it is compliant with EU law and creates a presumption, which the court is required to implement, that issues arising from determinations of planning authorities ought to be appealed to the board unless there are special circumstances. In effect, an appeal rather than a judicial review challenge should be the default position in the first instance.

There are two further amendments which will assist in reducing unnecessary judicial reviews and help to achieve Government policy in this regard. The first will confer on the board and planning authorities the power to make an amended decision where there is a challenge. If the challenge demonstrates that the board has made an error which nullifies its decision, the board will be able to have the matter remitted to it to make a new decision and it will not be necessary for the court to make an order invalidating the decision prior to the board doing this. That will enable the board and planning authorities to correct any errors on the face of the record that would otherwise lead to the quashing of the decision.

The final amendment introduced is designed to assist developers in obtaining remittal and address the judicial reluctance which has manifested itself recently to remit matters to planning authorities following a successful judicial review challenge. At present, some judges refer matters back to the planning authorities to make a new decision while other judges are reluctant to do so. To address this, it is proposed to provide for an effective presumption that the matter can be remitted to the board at the commencement of the legal proceedings in order that the errors can be corrected quickly, thereby avoiding associated delays with such proceedings.

The fifth set of Government amendments to be introduced on Committee Stage relates to amendments to the Valuation Acts. The purpose of these amendments is to enable the Commissioner of Valuation to defer the roll-out of the national revaluation programme. In February 2022, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage agreed with the Commissioner of Valuation that the commissioner will further defer the revaluation of rateable properties. It had been agreed to delay the dates for the revaluation of the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown rating authority on two previous occasions of foot of the impacts of Covid-19. This amendment gives effect to the most recent review of the commissioner and agreement to the further postponement of the revaluation programme.

The sixth set of Government amendments to be introduced on Committee Stage relates to technical amendments to the Marine Area Planning Act 2021. The proposed amendments, which are technical in nature, have been recommended and drafted by the Office of the Attorney General. Section 56 is amended by this Bill to allow for the appointment of a chief executive officer designate by the Minister ahead of the establishment of the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority. Other amendments provided for are technical in nature and to support the establishment of the new marine planning system.

In concluding the introduction of this Bill to the House, I thank Members for their contributions and confirm that the Minister will engage further on Committee and Final Stages next week. I also point out, as has been mentioned, that the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department officials will host a briefing next Monday morning for committee members and any other Member of the Oireachtas who wishes to partake. We look forward to a positive engagement. I commend the Bill to the House.

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