Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The widespread criticism, not just in the housing committee hearings but also in the wider public debate, is a matter of public record. The big question now is whether the Minister has listened. Has he listened to the experts, to communities, to industry, to environmentalists and to the Opposition? Given that the 700-page Bill was only published last week, we are still carefully analysing the detail of this legislation. However, at this stage, it is clear the Bill is nowhere near ready. Some elements of it are most welcome, while other sections are problematic and in need of modest amendment. However, there are also significant sections that, if enacted as currently written, will make our planning system much worse, leading to more conflict, more poor planning decisions, more litigation and more delay.

Sinn Féin fully supports the move towards a planned approach to planning and development. The sections of the Bill dealing with plan-making in general and with new types of urban area, priority area, and co-ordinated area plans are a positive development. However, further clarity is needed on the process to be used in drafting these plans and their scope. We need to move to a genuinely three-dimensional planning system, based on early and meaningful public participation that gives planning authorities, public and private developers, and communities the clarity and certainty they need.

We welcome the revisions to the urban development zones, from the earlier general scheme of what was originally separate legislation, as a more flexible replacement of the strategic development zones. It is disappointing that the land value sharing proposals have been withdrawn, although we understand these may be brought forward on a later Stage. We also welcome the governance changes to An Bord Pleanála and the introduction of statutory timelines for appeals and decisions. The scandals that rocked the board last year badly damaged the public reputation of a public body with a long track record of good public service. The behaviour of a small number of senior members was not reflective of the overwhelming majority of employees of the board, who have always and continue to operate to high standards. Government policy, as detailed earlier, and Government appointments are part of the context in which this scandal occurred. Significant progress has been made in the last year to address these issues, and we are watching closely to see if the board's decision-making backlog starts to reduce from January 2024.

The restructuring of the organisation is sensible. The implementation of the recommendations of the Office of the Planning Regulator is also welcome. The sections of this legislation dealing with development plans and housing plans, while broadly moving in the right direction, are in need of some amendment. Longer development plans must be combined with a thorough mid-term review, in which elected members of county councils and the wider public can have real input into revising and improving the plans, particularly as circumstances change. It is disappointing that the Government did not take the opportunity available in this Bill to strengthen the housing plan sections to place a greater focus on affordability for workers and families and housing adequacy, particularly for people with disabilities and for Travellers. There must be a stronger statutory obligation on local authorities and central government to address the full housing needs of people with disabilities and wheelchair users. Similarly, the planning recommendations of the expert group on Traveller accommodation should have been and still must be included in this legislation.

The areas where this Bill is most flawed include the sections on national policy statements, additional powers being granted to the planning regulator, the lack of CPO reform on land acquisition and changes to judicial review. It is clear that the Minister has not listened to the planning and legal experts who gave testimony to the housing committee. If he had listened to the detailed exchanges between members of the committee and representatives of the Irish Planning Institute, the environment and planning law committee of the Law Society of Ireland and the Planning, Environmental and Local Government Bar Association of Ireland, he would have heard very loud warnings of the dangers of these sections of the Bill.

As it stands, this legislation risks repeating mistakes of the section 28 mandatory guidelines in the Bill's formulation of the planning policy statements. This would be a grave error, setting our planning system Act back a decade. Of course, the Government must set a State-wide planning policy, but this must be done with adequate Oireachtas oversight, scrutiny and approval. It must also be done in a way that understands the difference between development planning and development management, and in a manner that ensures meaningful public and local government participation.

Similarly, the proposed changes to judicial procedures are very likely to be in breach of the State's international commitments under the Aarhus Convention, as well as a series of EU directives, not to mention natural justice. While the percentage of planning decisions that are judicially reviewed is small, at about 3% of all applications, according to the OPR, it is Sinn Féin's view that such judicial reviews are a result of failures in the planning system and planning law. Attempting to restrict people's access to the courts to vindicate their rights is not only legally and ethically wrong; it also simply will not work. The legal experts who addressed the housing committee made it clear that the real-world impact of the proposed changes in the Bill will lead to an increase in litigation on planning matters, including satellite litigation and appeals to superior and EU courts. If the aim of these sections is to reduce the number of legal challenges to planning applications, the evidence is clear that this will not work and that it will, in fact, have the opposite effect.

Sinn Féin is also very concerned with the significantly increased powers to be granted to the Office of the Planning Regulator and what we believe is the blurring of that office's enforcement role, which we support, and what appears to be a new policy formulation role, which is properly the role of the Government. We are disappointed at the lack of reform of the compulsory purchase order sections and the lack of any sections to assist the State to acquire land for strategic development at an existing use or at a discount from market cost. It is also very disappointing that the Bill has not been used to address the issue of embedded carbon in the built environment, whether to reduce demolition, to increase the reuse of development materials or to measure and reduce the embodied carbon in our building materials and processes. Sinn Féin will be tabling amendments on all these sections and issues, as well as on other issues, such as community gardens and allotments.

The planning system will only work fairly, effectively and efficiently if it guarantees good-quality planning decisions that are made in a timely manner following meaningful public participation. This is the only way to ensure we build the homes, schools and hospitals we need; to provide the underlying water, wastewater, utility and transport infrastructure; and to ramp up the delivery of much-needed renewable energy at the pace required to meet our 2030 renewable energy targets. It is time to get planning right. It is time to undo the mistakes of the recent past. It is time to undo the damage of decades of bad Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael planning policy and practice. It is time to properly resource our planning authorities, An Bord Pleanála and the courts. We can and we must have a 21st century planning system, with a plan-led approach, so that the Government, communities and industry can deliver on the social, economic, environmental and biodiversity needs of our society, not just today and tomorrow but for generations to come.

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