Results 3,081-3,100 of 14,941 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: That would be at the discretion of the Minister and the Government of the day.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: The current NPF is going to be reviewed within one census cycle from 2016 to 2022 and we will do it in 2024 when we have the final data. Why does this happen in every second occurrence of the census and why not every first, that is every census?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: That would make sense if one’s census and NPF review were perfectly aligned but the problem is that they are not.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: So we will have an NPF review in 2024 as per the existing legislation. That will be a ten-year plan until 2034. There will be a census then in 2026, but it will be the following census-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Will it be that census or the following census which will trigger the review under this provision of the revised NPF? Will it not be the next one?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Sure, but the Minister of State is putting in a provision that makes the general rule of thumb to be within the second occurrence of the census during the lifetime of the plan.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: On the ten-year plans, will the Minister of State do a review in 2024?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is the first occurrence and not the second occurrence within that review period, or it is the second occurrence within the current NPF? Which is it?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Sure, I get that. Again, I just ask this for clarity and it could be that I am confused. Within the current NPF, 2018 was approved, the first occurrence of the census was in 2022 so the second occurrence of the census is in 2027. That would obviously trigger then a review but that is obviously going to be the next NPF, which is the one from 2030 onwards.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Okay. One then gets a new NPF, the second one from 2030 onwards but it would not be the 2032 census but it would be the 2037 census then which would trigger the review under this provision of the second NPF. Is that correct? That just seems like a very long interval and, sure, anybody can do a review at any stage, but the Minister of State has an explicit provision in the Bill requiring a...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Surely the better option would have been this one, which is to automatically trigger, every time there is a census and as quick as the data is available, a review at least of the elements of the NPF which are underpinned by the census, in case there is some dramatic shift.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: A review would throw that up. If one had a requirement to have such a review after every census, it could be a quick review to say that there has been virtually no change and that we can move on. My worry is that even though the Chair is right in that there is nothing stopping somebody doing a review, if we link it explicitly to the second occurrence of the census, that is more than likely...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: The only process the Minister of State has said there is that it is at the discretion of a Minister. If they are doing their job right they could trigger an earlier review but it is not required or explicitly stated.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I do not think it is adequate but the Minister of State has explained it very clearly. I thank the Minister of State. I am happy to move on to other amendments, through the Chair.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: To emphasise Deputy McAuliffe's point, there was the census in 2016, the planning framework was created in 2018 and a series of development plan reviews are almost complete, with only a small number outstanding. There has been almost seven years between 2018 and 2024, when the NPF will be reviewed, and over recent years there has been widespread commentary, both within this House and from...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will respond briefly because I want to move on to the other amendments. When we think about it, we have the national marine planning framework which is not unlike the national planning framework. It sits on top and contains our high-level strategic objectives. The maritime spatial plans are not unlike development plans in that they get into an awful lot of granular detail. The reason...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: The idea that any amendment to the definitions of biodiversity addresses what is already there is the point of the amendment. Definitions provide clarity in terms of what runs throughout the Bill. This section deals specifically with the national planning framework. It sets out and explicitly names the matters the framework has to take into account. If something is really important and we...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I have a final comment on these amendments. The argument the Minister makes against amendment No. 150 and the level of restoration could just as easily be applied to conservation. The legislation does not set out to what level this applies or set out what is to be conserved. It just places an obligation, in this instance on the Minister, the Department and the Government, when producing a...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: Deputy O'Callaghan can press them if he wants.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: For clarity, BUAs can be within cities, towns or villages or they can be separate from them. It is not that it is a different designation.