Results 1,701-1,720 of 6,939 for speaker:Cian O'Callaghan

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: Most of the power in this process from the national planning statements being issued is with the Minister. Most of the power in this process lies with the Minister or the OPR. There is very little for the Oireachtas or the regional assemblies in it; most of the power lies elsewhere. The Minister of State has explained very well how diligently and thoroughly he goes through these.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: No.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: We all have seen cases over the years of very poor planning and poor planning outcomes when there has been competition between local authorities. I will not name those local authorities, although perhaps I should do so. There are local authorities that have given planning permission right on the border of the jurisdiction of their neighbouring local authority in ways that undermine the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: First, with regard to section 40(7)(b), where it states: "The Minister may require two or more planning authorities to coordinate the development plans ...", the difficulty with that is that the Minister may not exercise that. If the Minister does not exercise that, and given how busy the Minister's Department is going to be, that may not happen. The default then is section 40(7)(a). With...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I will finish my point, if I may. I thank the Chair. I will give one concrete example, but not Charlestown. Up the road from Charlestown is IKEA, which is in Ballymun but in Fingal County Council's area. When IKEA opened, the rates were worth so much to Fingal County Council that the rates for all ratepayers and businesses in Fingal were cut by 10%, the biggest rate decrease that council...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: Amendment No. 339 seeks to delete the word "rural" on page 101 with respect to the obligation to prepare a strategy for sustainable development and regeneration. Why is there a reference to "sustainable rural development"? While I am for sustainable rural development, we need to have sustainable development in other areas as well. I am conscious that section 42(2)(a) refers to compact...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister of State. It is a good explanation.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: This wording applies to all planning authorities so they must do what is set out in section 42(1) and (2), which reads "The strategy shall set out objectives relating to ... sustainable rural development". What if there is a planning authority that does not have rural areas in its functional area? This states they have to set out objectives relating to sustainable rural development. There...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: This states it must set out objectives relating to sustainable rural development, but it may have no rural areas in its functional area. I appreciate that most planning authorities have rural areas but not all do.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: It says they all have to do it, does it not?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: Where is the "appropriate" bit?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: The word "appropriate" is quite ambiguous.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I will.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I do not have them in front of me just now.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: Deputy Matthews can have another couple of minutes on this amendment and then we will suspend.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: Deputy Ó Broin is being generous in stating that there is a blurring of the lines between the roles. There seems to be incredible overreach. That the Bill is changing the OPR from a regulator into something else altogether while still requiring it to carry out its regulatory functions is highly problematic. The amendment seeks to mitigate this somewhat. How can an office be the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: The elected members have a key role throughout the development plan process. In many ways, it is their development plan and they are elected to produce it. In the context of local democracy, it is one of the key functions of local councillors. Section 51, which brings in the OPR before the preparation of the draft development plan begins, is significant; however, not having the elected...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: If the amendment is not accepted it will mean that before elected members have any say or involvement in the development plan process, or in the section 51 pre-development plan process, the OPR will have a say. Council members are the people elected to represent local communities in local democracy. It is meant to be their development plan and they have this key responsibility. They will...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I would like clarification on this. We have discussed amendments on transboundary issues previously and received the same response. The commitment is to look at it with regard to development plans as well as other areas.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I thought that as well, without having discussed it with Deputy Ó Broin.