Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Andrews for raising this issue, which relates to the proposed Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2024.

First, I must state that under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, the Minister with responsibility for planning is specifically precluded from exercising any power or control in respect of any particular planning related matter with which a planning authority or the board may be concerned.

We agree with the Deputy that the hospitality and restaurant sector, and indeed the wider tourism sector, suffered the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in the Government introducing a range of measures, including measures to facilitate outdoor dining, to manage the impact of the pandemic as well as the impact of cost inflation in recent years.

The Government is committed to providing necessary supports to relevant sectors, where appropriate. The street furniture licence fee regulations will be a repeat of the measures introduced in 2021, 2022 and 2023, which will continue to assist the hospitality and tourism sectors in 2024 by reducing the cost for maintaining outdoor dining facilities in public spaces.

The power for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to make regulations for the fees payable for street furniture licences, such as tables and chairs for outdoor dining, is set out in section 246(1) of the Planning and Development Act 2000. In accordance with section 262(4) of the Act, regulations relating to the setting of fees for street furniture licences that are made under section 246(1) of the Act are first required to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas in draft form, with the regulations not being able to be signed by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage unless a positive resolution approving the draft regulation has been passed by each House.

The Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2024 were laid in draft form before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 16 April 2024 in accordance with section 262 of the Act. On 30 April 2024, which was Tuesday of this week, the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage to present the Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2024, which will set the section 254 licence fees for tables and chairs for the purpose of outdoor dining to zero until 31 December 2024.

Having been discussed and generally welcomed in the joint committee on Tuesday last, the current position is that the regulation to remove the normal licence fee of €125 per table now awaits positive resolutions from the Houses of the Oireachtas. Once the positive resolutions have been adopted - they are expected imminently - it is the intention of the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, to sign the regulation at the earliest opportunity.

Once signed, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will issue a circular letter to local authorities informing them that no fees shall be charged or levied for tables and chairs for the purpose of outdoor dining up to 31 December 2024. The circular letter will also provide any further necessary clarifications on the matter. These regulations are a positive measure aimed at reducing the operating costs of businesses in the wider hospitality sector in these challenging times of increased costs and they have been welcomed over a number of years.

It would also be the intention of the regulations that any street furniture licence fees already paid by businesses in respect of the current year prior to the signing of the regulations by the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, would be refunded by local authorities.

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