Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The stated intention of the Bill to provide a more efficient and robust planning system is a good idea. A consolidated and streamlined Bill is necessary and welcome, and I acknowledge that a great deal of work has gone into it. However, it falls short of its stated goals. For example, it does nothing to ensure meaningful and early engagement in the planning process with communities, which would reduce conflict and delays. Such engagement should be strong under the Bill. We do not see provisions on co-creation, which featured in the pre-legislative process. We heard good examples from other countries of how co-creation could be useful in bringing communities on board, with them shaping and designing major projects in their areas. There is nothing in the Bill to facilitate co-creation, yet we know from international experience that it is very successful and works.

There are legitimate concerns that, instead of reducing planning conflicts in the courts, the changes to judicial reviews under the Bill will lead to more litigation, including satellite litigation, where the legality of the legislation is challenged in terms of its compliance with Ireland's EU environmental obligations and the Aarhus Convention.

I will cite the former Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Frank Clarke, who said of the Bill that the Government's push to amend the planning laws would likely lead to a large number of legal cases being referred to European courts and slow down the planning process. He stated:

If the theory is to make quick decisions to allow proper development go ahead, creating a system where there will be references to the Court of Justice of the European Union and the inevitable delay before there’s clarity about the law seems to be counterproductive to the purpose it is intended.

Furthermore, Mr. Gregory Jones, the barrister in planning and environmental law who chaired the review of An Bord Pleanála in March 2016, stated that some of these changes would not speed up the planning system and that we would be on a European tour of Geneva, Strasbourg and possibly even Luxembourg, which would be good work for the lawyers who practised in that way but led to depressing thoughts of delay and adverse impacts on the economy. I would add to that the impact on the people of Ireland if we were to introduce legislation that resulted in a number of delays.

Worryingly, the Bill fails to do anything to ensure that housing will become more affordable. For example, it prohibits local authorities from introducing affordable housing zones. This is a key weakness in the Bill. The programme for Government refers to the Vienna model of affordable housing, yet this legislation, like the current legislation, will prevent local authorities from zoning for affordable housing. It fails to fix the problem. It is important to say that good planning should have multiple goals. One of its key goals should be the provision of affordable housing. When the planning process first started and attempts were made to put a system in place around housing provision and other construction activity, it was never the intention to make housing less affordable. If a planning system is to have regulatory controls and be effective, then it must have specific measures to address affordability.

I have a concern about the narrative around planning. Planning should not be seen as a burden. When done well, it ensures the provision of housing in communities that is designed well and has good amenities and facilities. Many of our current problems with a lack of infrastructure, urban sprawl and high prices are associated with poor planning processes. We need to resource planning and get it right. We cannot afford to do otherwise.

This Bill centralises control and reduces public accountability.

I welcome the Minister's comment to the effect that he will engage with us during this legislative process. I will table a number of amendments to improve the Bill. I hope some of them will be taken on board. For the record, the Minister may have written to Sinn Féin, but as far as I know, he did not write to other Opposition parties.

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