Results 2,801-2,820 of 14,941 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Minister for providing that clarification. To be clear, he is saying the process of amending or revoking is identical to the process of approving and that subsections (6) to (10), for example, and requirements for strategic environmental assessments or appropriate assessments would also be required for revocation.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is helpful. I thank the Minister.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Again, we have had quite a discussion on the subject matter of this amendment. I would have thought that given the significance of the planning policy statements, prescribed bodies should be listed here. I see no reason why they should not. I do not want to repeat the long debate we had previously, but perhaps even in a brief form the Minister could just give us a rationale for not...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: But just to mention prescribed bodies, as per our amendment.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: To be clear, it was never proposed in any of our amendments to ask the Minister to list them.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Surely not.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am more than happy to welcome that.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes. Amendment No. 200 relates to section 24, the heading relating to which is "Considerations for issuance of National Planning Statement". The amendment refers specifically to lines 6 and 7. It is in respect of the considerations for its issuance. We seek that the wording "and the assessment of any application for development consent under Part 4" be included. I am interested in...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I apologise.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Absolutely. I mistook it for another amendment. One of the really interesting discussions we had with the Irish Planning Institute was on the issue of subsidiarity and what a national policy statement should and should not be responsible for? The Irish Planning Institute made a very clear distinction between the right and the necessity of the Government setting national policy that would...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Irish Planning Institute made a submission to the committee on this particular issue. Again, it is important to remember this is the official position of the professional association of planners, so these are people who make planning applications.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: This is for the record as well as for the benefit of the Minister, but it is worth reminding him who they are. They make applications on behalf of applicants and they make decisions. The Irish Planning Institute stated that national planning measures and policies should apply only to forward planning, under Part 3, and not to development management, which is under Part 4. It also stated...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: The decision, in formal terms, rests with the planning authority, whether it is the local authority or the board. However, that is not the import of what the Minister is proposing, and this is why I go back to what the Irish Planning Institute has stated. In this regard, let me refer to a real case. For example, we had the mandatory ministerial guidelines on building heights whereby you...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am very clear that this is relates to the activities of the planner in the planning authority.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am clear about that but what the Minister has said does not make sense. On the one hand, he is saying that this is to provide guidance when planners are making their assessment prior to their decision. He is saying it does not reach into their role but that he wants consistency and wants to remove inconsistencies. Part of the problem with planning consents is that we can have a...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I have one final question. How can we get that consistency without in some way restricting the flexibility that clearly exists and that, if I interpret the Minister's view correctly, is leading to inconsistencies?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I have one final response to that but the Minister does not have to respond to me if he does not wish to. He is misreading this. The section refers to the "integration of appropriate architectural urban design and quality standards into development plans" and so on. That is what that is about. The issue then is that the Minister is absolutely seeking to restrict the scope within which an...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Nobody on this side of the room or, indeed, in the Irish Planning Institute is suggesting that planners should not have regard to their development plans, spatial strategies, national planning framework or SPPRs. That is not the issue. I know what this is about. The Ronan Group submitted an application for a specific height for the Salesforce tower. This is a real-life case directly...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: No.