Results 2,941-2,960 of 14,941 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Yes, sure.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Okay. Amendment No. 173, in section 22, relates to the way in which the NPF review process deals with a variety of other plans, documents etc. I have two issues with the way in which section 22 is worded. Section 22(1) provides that in carrying out a review under section 20, the Government "may have regard to" such plans or documents as it considers appropriate. It is very different...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: We might hear the Minister of State's response first.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: The thing I am confused on is in section 21(2), it says the Minister "shall make provision", and in section 21(4), it says "the Government shall have regard to any observations", yet in section 22(1) it says the Government "may have regard". My question to the Minister of State is this: why was a decision taken to use "may" there, which is weaker language? Part of the Minister of State's...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: My apologies, but that is not the question I am asking. While I do not agree with the Minister of State, I accept his point that Members of the Oireachtas are included in section 21(2). My question is a different one. Section 22(1) provides that in carrying out a review under section 20, the Government "may have regard to" such plans or documents as it considers appropriate. It uses the...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: I will not repeat the points that Deputies O'Callaghan and Boyd Barrett have made, although I strongly support them. I want to go back to the other element of our amendment, which is the weaker language in section 22(1). With the greatest of respect, the Minister of State's response to me confused the issue. In the part of section 21 that deals with the documents that come back from the...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: That is a much clearer explanation. Can the Minister of State then give me a real-life example of what a prescribed document is versus a document that may be considered appropriate?
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: I apologise. If the Minister of State looks at section 22(2), "prescribed" in that instance means statutory plans, such as a development plan, for example, whereas with respect to section 22(1), it could be-----
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: -----Housing for All, which is not a statutory plan, or would that be prescribed?
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Again, it is just for clarity and to understand. What does "prescribed" mean with regard to section 22(2)? That is obviously a particular type of document or plan.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Just so I am clear, on foot of the passing-----
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Sure. I have two questions and then I am done with this. This is just for clarity. After this Bill passes in the form it is in, there will be a regulation and that regulation will actually list-----
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: -----what documents are prescribed for the purpose of the NPF review. It will set that out. One assumes they are documents of a higher order, such as development plans, etc. They will be listed out. That is covered by the word "shall" in section 22(2).
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Then, section 22(1) means any other document that is not prescribed and it does not even have to be Government policy; it could be anything else.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: The only thing I will say to the Minister of State is that part of his justification for having "may have regard to" is that he is saying the Government should not have to consider everything. It does not, because there is not-----
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Sure, but the provision at the end of section 22(1) states "as it considers appropriate".
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Without overburdening the point, and this is my last question on this issue, do the Minister of State's officials have a sense at this point how encompassing the prescribed documents will be?
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: It will broadly be plans that have some kind of statutory function.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: Okay. I am clear on that now.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)
Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister of State misunderstands the amendment because, in fact, it is not exclusive. It states that it "shall include", but "shall include" means other things can be included. It does not state "shall only be" or "shall only include". That is the first point. The second point is that in some sense, it is not that we are trying to list the documents but we want to ensure that...