Results 9,201-9,220 of 15,065 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Chair and apologise for my absence. I want to take us back to the plan-making and policy portions of the Bill because if we get those right, we will not necessarily have to have as much discussion around what happens at the latter end. For me, these are crucial sections of the Bill. Can Mr. Hogan give us as much detail as he has about where we are with the transitional...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: Does that mean then, in line with section 22(1), the current position is all current section 28 ministerial guidelines and SPPRs at a point in time will just become the policy statements as outlined in section 23 or-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: -----what are we going to get in terms of that interaction?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I would have sympathy for that approach. What then happens? How many section 28 ministerial guidelines do we have? Is it 30-odd that have been produced?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: If this Bill passes in some shape or form, what will be the standing of those 30-odd sets of ministerial guidelines at that point in time while, as Mr. Hogan outlines, the Department is working them into new policy statements as per section 23?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I presume that will take quite some time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: Would it be fair to say then the ones that will get prioritised are the ones that have proved most problematic and the source of litigation and slowing down planning developments or how will the Department prioritise?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: Density guidelines, I presume as well, are in that category.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: Is the plan for those is to publish them as section 28 guidelines rather than incorporate them as ministerial statements but then at some point in the future re-jig them into policy statements?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister likes giving the officials lots of extra work.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: Particularly on those two sets of guidelines, I fully support the Department on that without prejudice to the content of them. One of the other concerns is, in section 23, the definition of a so-called "national planning statement" is very broad. It states: The Minister may, at any time, with the approval of the Government, issue a statement ... which shall comprise two parts as follows: ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is not what it says in the legislation. I do not want to be awkward but Mr. Hogan and I both know if the legislation is not prescriptive enough, a Minister, irrespective of the advice of experienced professionals, can go off in all sorts of directions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: It is something I support in principle. The issue is how you do it and the relationship between those and the local.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am out of time. With the Chair's indulgence, we had quite an engagement with the Office of the Planning Regulator who, in a previous life, was very involved in all these discussions and with the board, about the extent to which the Oireachtas should be involved. When there are significant changes to planning regulations, we have a mechanism in the Oireachtas which is that the officials...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: We are very reasonable people in this committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am not questioning that principle. It is just that is what the section 28 ministerial guidelines and SPPRs are for. Because of the way it was done and designed, however, it has not worked. That is why were are coming forward with this other proposition.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I understand that, but we have had a number of years of litigation regarding the mismatch and translation of those different levels of -----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: For me, it is not the principle; it is the mechanism and the process. I fully support the idea of national policy guidelines. I also believe in regional and local guidelines. When the County and City Managers Association and some of its members came before us, their concern related to the process of transposition and how that works. This is because what we have seen with some of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: Ye we are also dictating to people on the residential side about size, the number of rooms, etc. That is why the distinction between development management and forward planning is really useful because we should have very clear rules. I accept that, but we should not be telling people - to continue the analogy - what colour or size car they should have; we should be telling them about the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I wish to address timelines and penalties. As the witnesses are aware, I am very strongly in favour of timelines, particularly in terms of development consents in local authorities and the board. This is a part of the Bill we really need to get right because if we get it right, it will be very helpful to applicants, local authorities, communities, etc. Can Mr. Hogan at least give us some...