Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

In addition to the provisions the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, has outlined, the Bill also provides for amendments to the Act 2024 to clarify transitional arrangements as the planning system moves from operating under the 2000 Act to the new Act. The following approval of the revised national planning framework 2025, which will facilitate the delivery of in excess of 50,000 additional new homes per annum, there is an urgent need to ensure the updated housing requirements can be incorporated into the planning system as quickly as possible.

Local authorities will be required to update their current development plans over the coming months. Local authorities need clarity that this can be done under the 2000 Act while the new Act is commenced.

To provide the necessary clarity and certainty, a number of transitional amendments will be made to the Act of 2024. These transitional provisions will provide that development plan variations commenced under the Act of 2000 can continue under that Act when the relevant provisions of the Act of 2024 are commenced, with a similar provision for the local area plans that have been commenced under the Act of 2000. The provisions will also ensure that prior to the commencement of the provisions in the Act of 2024 on development consents, that applications assessed under the Act of 2000 shall have regard to the national planning framework, ministerial guidelines, regional spatial and economic strategies, development plans and local area plans continued in force under Act of 2024. This is necessary to allow for the phased commencement of the Act of 2024. The Act already includes transitional amendments for a number of different processes reflecting the principle that any process commenced under the Act of 2000 continues under the Act of 2000, even if the relevant provisions in the Act of 2024 are commenced.

I will now outline the main provisions of the Bill, which consists of three Parts.

Part 1, that is sections 1 and 2, contains provisions of a general nature, including definitions.

Part 2, which is sections 3 to 15, inclusive, amends the principal Act, which is the Planning and Development Act 2024, hereafter the Act of 2024.

Section 3 is a transitional measure that provides for any guidelines, other than specific planning policy requirements, issued under the Act of 2000 and continued in force under the Act of 2024 on the commencement of Part 3 to be regarded in decision-making processes under the Act of 2024.

Section 4 provides for a report to the relevant regional assembly setting out progress made with regard to the regional spatial and economic strategy. This ensures that local authority reports continue to be prepared one year in advance of a regional assembly report.

Section 5 is a transitional measure to provide for a regional spatial and economic strategy made under the Act of 2000 and continued in force under the Act of 2024 on the commencement of Part 3 to be regarded in decision processes under the Act of 2024.

Section 6 disapplies section 56 of the Act of 2024 for development plans made or varied under the Act of 2000 and continued in force under the Act of 2024.

Sections 7 to 9, inclusive, are related. These are transitional measures to allow for the assessment of any variation to development plans made under the Act of 2000 and continued in force under section 68 of the Act of 2024, or any development plans made or varied in accordance with section 69 of that Act. This will allow variation of such plans to be assessed with respect to the variation only rather than the criteria in the Act of 2024.

Sections 8 and 9 make consequential amendments to sections 64 and 65 of the Act of 2024 to update cross-references.

Section 10 is a transitional measure to provide for a development plan prepared under the Act of 2000 and continued in force under the Act of 2024 on the commencement of Part 3 to be regarded in decision-making processes under the Act of 2024.

Section 11 provides that where the making of a development plan or a development plan variation has commenced under the Act of 2000 prior to the commencement of Part 3 of the Act of 2024, it may continue under the Act of 2000, notwithstanding its repeal, and it is to be regarded in decision-making processes under the Act of 2024.

Section 12 deals with local area plans and provides that when the making or amending of a local area plan is commenced under Act of 2000, before the commencement of Part 3 of the Act of 2024, it may continue under the Act of 2000 and that variations to existing local area plans that are continued in force under the Act of 2024, may be made subject to the provisions of the Act of 2024. It further provides that local area plans shall be regarded in decision-making processes under Act of 2024.

Section 13 relates to judicial reviews. This section extends the pause of the duration of permission during judicial review proceedings to permissions granted under the Act of 2000 and subject to judicial review under the Act of 2000. It provides that where a permission was or is subject to judicial review, the holder of the permission may seek a suspension of time for the period the judicial review was or is ongoing. Retrospective applications for suspension of duration may be made in respect of active permissions where a judicial review has concluded, provided that the person applying declares that development did not substantially commence, which excludes works for the maintenance, security or protection of the development site, while the judicial review was ongoing.

Section 14 amends section 303(3) of the Act of 2024 to clarify that the application of section 50B of the Act of 2000 to decisions under the Act of 2024 ceases to have effect on the commencement of Chapter 2 of Part 9 of the Act of 2024. This section also amends section 303(4) of the Act of 2024 to clarify that the application of sections 50 and 50A of the Act of 2000 to decisions under the Act of 2024, ceases to have effect on the commencement of Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Act of 2024.

Section 15 is consequential to the amendment proposed in section 16 and updates cross-references to reflect the proposed new section 42(1A) of the Act of 2000.

Part 3 amends the Planning and Development Act 2000, hereafter Act of 2000, and provides for the extension of duration of permissions.

Section 16 amends the Act of 2000 to enable an extension of duration of up to three years to permissions for housing developments that have not yet commenced and have less than two years remaining on the duration of permission. To encourage activation of housing development, the application for the extension must be made within six months of the commencement of the legislation and the development must commence within 18 months of the commencement of the legislation. In line with existing provisions, a further application for an extension of up to two years may be made once the development is substantially complete. An extension of duration may only be granted where an environmental impact assessment, EIA, or appropriate assessment, AA, would not be required with regard to the proposed extension.

Section 17 is a technical amendment to ensure references in the Act of 2000 include references to similar terms in the Act of 2024 on commencement of Part 3.

There is an apartment guidelines amendment, which I will bring Deputies through. We will table a number of amendments in the Seanad, the majority of which deal with the transitional arrangements arising from moving from the 2000 Act to the 2024 Act. I will also table amendments relating to the new apartment guidelines, which were published today. Government is committed to ensuring that housing is delivered as quickly as possible and that we do everything we can to support developments that have planning permission. In this regard, certain modifications, in accordance with the provisions of the new apartment guidelines, to permissions for residential development that are granted on or after the date that the 2025 guidelines come into force, will be deemed to be permitted modifications. The permitted modifications will be very limited, with no change to the scale or mass of a development. Changes to the internal layout will be allowed in line with the new guidelines and certain limited external modifications to align with the internal changes will also be permitted. Developers will need to inform the planning authority of the proposed changes, and provided that they are in line with what is set out in the amendment, the modified permission will be granted. This will be a timebound provision for two years only, to encourage the activation of existing permissions, rather than developers having to seek a new permission in such cases. As the new apartment guidelines were only published today, it has not been possible to have this amendment included in the published Bill, but we will table it in the Seanad next week.

The Bill ensures that the potential that exists in the many permissions granted to date will be realised. We cannot let the potential for more housing slip away. With the support of the Houses, we hope to have the Bill enacted before the summer recess. We will seek to respond to any specific questions and engage further on Committee Stage. I commend the Bill to the House.

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