Results 2,761-2,780 of 8,211 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will withdraw the amendment but I reserve the right to bring it back because I would like to be reassured in regard to the question. As the Minister has described it, the legislation does allow that one would not be able to give substitute consent in situations where either an EIA or an appropriate assessment might be required. I want to be very clear on that. However, there is still a...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 3: In page 4, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following: “(c) the Board shall indicate to the applicant what further actions may be required in light of such a refusal.”,”. This amendment would insert a new paragraph into the proposed new subsection (37L) of the principal Act. It proposes that in situations where the application for a...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It seems the Minister is correct. In effect, the amendment should be inserted at line 27. It seems to have been placed incorrectly. Effectively, the issue that is being addressed in section 4 is the issuing of refusals, so that is the section where the amendment would properly lie. Nonetheless, it would still be useful at this point, in order that we can go forward as constructively as...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to reintroduce it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will speak to the section because it is a substantial area of the Bill. I disagree with the rulings in respect of my amendments. As I have indicated, I will raise this with the Seanad Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight. There has been an overinterpretation in respect of these issues and I am concerned we are moving towards a position where, effectively, Parliament is...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is important because that is a fundamental balance in terms of, if we have a situation where-----

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will speak to the section. I wish to highlight certain issues in this regard. A major concern relates to section 5(a), which introduces a new subsection that would, in effect, allow a person applying for substitute consent in respect of the development of land that the person has undertaken without appropriate permissions to apply at the same time for a new and different development of...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a related question. I want to ask a very specific question on this. This section proposes to insert the phrase "in respect of development of land". Will the Minister clarify what exactly is meant by the addition of this phrase?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I disagree. This provision does provide an incentive because the disincentive in the legislation is the requirement to seek substitute consent but that applies in any event. If I have a site I want to build on and I have built something on it for which I do not have permission, there is then the question of seeking substitute consent. What is very interesting is that this reveals the idea,...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not a matter of what An Bord Pleanála would do. The issue is that a stage would be skipped. The question of the two issues being bundled is not one that I raised. The Minister raised the fact that having the two applications combined creates a different dynamic. It is not about each thing being considered on its merits. The fact is that a substitute consent application is...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: No. The only disadvantage the Minister has outlined is the disadvantage of having an unlawful application following which people need to apply to fix it retrospectively, which is a matter entirely within their control and is already subject to a substitute consent process. The additional hurdle of substitute consent is intrinsic to them. However, the new planning application provides them...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: As opposed to sequentially.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The like-with-like here is a sequential process where one seeks to substitute consent and then one seeks a planning permission versus a simultaneous process where one seeks substitute consent and a planning permission at the same time and effectively get to skip a stage in the process. I think it is a concern. I accept we disagree and because we disagree so fundamentally on it, it is very...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to indicate that it is my intention on Report Stage to table amendments in respect of the section. I refer particularly to the issue around where a decision to impose a condition that arises is materially different in respect of the terms and conditions from a recommendation report of the person assigned to report on the application for permission on behalf of the board. That is a...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The section allows for the area where the Minister might provide for regulations in such matters as procedure and administration. It would be useful to understand exactly what the problem is at the moment with the system we have. We already have a system for applying for substitute consent. Section 5 expands it and mainly seems to be an expansion to allow for simultaneous new applications....

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Perhaps I should wait until section 12. This is one of the areas that will be coming to more sections later. We are deleting some of the powers that local authorities have at the moment in requiring an application for substitute consent. I am not sure if it is in this section or a later one. I want to indicate my indication to try to address the issue. Even if we wanted to this alternate...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will leave it at this point.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 7: In page 8, line 4, after “shall” to insert “be subject to the criteria set out in section 177D(2) and”. The amendment seeks to add a new caveat to the definition of "exceptional circumstance" being inserted into section 177A of the principal Act. The caveat is that the exceptional circumstances should be subject to the criteria set out...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister for some of the clarifications, particularly with regard to precedent, which is useful to have on the record. However, I continue to disagree regarding the question of incentivisation. The Minister outlined that there is a risk in applying for substitute consent and said that is the main caveat. The concern is that at the moment, a local authority can require a...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 8: In page 8, line 5, after "177K(1J)" to insert the following: "and shall also reflect the obligation to ensure that there is no creation of a precedent or incentivisation". I withdraw this amendment and reserve the right to introduce it on Report Stage.