Results 1,921-1,940 of 14,981 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Okay.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: This is quite important. There is obviously a standard statute of limitations on planning enforcement of seven years and we deal with that regularly. This is quite unique though, in the sense this is under a section where there is a refusal-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister may not have the answer to the bit I am going to ask-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will ask first and the Minister can respond then. This is where there is a refusal or retrospective consent, that is, a retrospective consent application has been submitted and it is refused. The issue here is even where it is refused, after seven years the local authority has no powers whatsoever to introduce any requirements for remedial measures. This is crucial when we think about...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Cool.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Sure.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I read it differently. What section 320(3) does is allow people to take enforcement action outside the normal statute of limitations of seven years.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: However, what section 130(8) does, notwithstanding the fact people can do that and stop the illegal quarrying or peat harvesting, is ensure people are not allowed take action. The key words are "shall not require the taking of remedial [action]". On the one hand, therefore, we are saying there is a tougher enforcement regime because people can go back seven years, but even when they stop...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes. It states they "shall not require the taking of remedial measures".

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Section 130(1)(a) and (b) set out the scope or parameters of remediation. It does not say the site has to be remediated to its original state. Section 130(1)(a) states "to restore the site on or at which the development to which the application relates is situated, to a safe and environmentally sustainable condition" so not to its original state. As we know, people might not know what the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Section 317(2)(d) sets out what can be in the enforcement notice, including restoration of land or maritime sites. However, when you read section 130(8) against that, you can see that there is an exception for a quarry or peat extraction site. Here, where the unauthorised development is more than seven years old, no remedial measures can be in that enforcement notice. Does section 130(8)...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is not what section 130(8) says.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister's explanation is helpful. So section 317(2)(d) is the planning authority enforcement section. That is the enforcement section of the local authority. Section 130(8) involves the commission in terms of applications for retrospective consent. It seems that the Government wants section 317(2)(d), as do we. Then section 130(8) needs to removed. Obviously, the Minister needs to...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: My final comment is that in that scenario outlined by the Minister, and if I was the proprietor of the said illegal quarry and the enforcement notice then required remediation, the very first thing I would be doing would be to get legal advice to see whether, as I had been operating for eight or nine years, section 138 surely applies. We will, however, await with interest the Minister's response.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is for enforcement, ceasing, desisting and removing the structure, sure, but the question mark on section 138-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will move on to some of the Minister of State’s other amendments. This is one of the sections of the Bill that got very little attention during pre-legislative scrutiny. It is also one of the most complex areas. It is not only about understanding what is in Irish law but also EU legislation, and a very considerable volume of ECJ case law. I struggle with this in a way that I do...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: That much I got but that is as far as I got. What I am trying to do is get under the bonnet of this a little. The first is absence of alternative solutions, then imperative reasons of overriding public interest and then compensatory measures are required. All three tests have to be met. Is that correct?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Apr 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am happy with that. I am trying to get a sense of what the compensatory measures would be. What would be the case if there was a loss of biodiversity in location A and there was an attempt to facilitate the development or nurturing of that species loss in location B? What kinds of measures are we talking about? I know it is hard unless one is talking about a real-life case. Would the...