Results 3,121-3,140 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: We are not creating a restriction. The Senator asked me to give an example. This will not damage anyone's opportunity; rather, it is the opposite. I do not share the Senator's concerns. I cannot give him an example of his concerns. He can outline how he thinks people will be affected. I do not think we are affecting people's rights by inserting this amendment. It will be part of the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: Amendment No. 39 will amend section 169 of the principal Act to clarify that planning decisions in strategic development zones, SDZs, shall be bound by specific planning policy requirements set out in ministerial planning guidelines. Consistency of policy approaches and practices in dealing with planning applications is a key requirement for the planning process to function effectively....

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: In this case, the amendment specifically relates to the SPPR process that we discussed earlier. That is what I understand. It has to be the Minister's decision. As regards local authorities having that power, it would need to be the other way around, that the Minister would make an SPPR recommendation and guidance.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: This amendment relates to the SDZs. There is some confusion whether when a section 28(1C) is used there is a specific planning policy requirement. There is a confusion whether it is relevant in an SDZ area. There have been consultations between local authorities and our Department over the past few months about this. This will bring clarity to that matter to say that it does. If an SPPR...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: Senator Grace O'Sullivan also raised this issue on Committee Stage. It relates to section 179 of the principal planning Act which in association with Part 8 of the planning regulations sets out the arrangements for approval by local authorities of own development proposals on social housing, local roads, libraries and community facilities, etc. This amendment proposes to insert a new...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: This amendment by Senator Grace O’Sullivan proposes the deletion of the phrase “in force on the commencement of this section” from section 208(1) of the principal Act of 2000. In this regard, section 208(1) requires that a public right of way shall be maintained by the planning authority where: a public right of way is created pursuant to this Act, or a provision in a...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: Amendment No. 43 inserts a new section in the Bill which proposes to amend section 246 of the principal Act, which contains the enabling provision for the Minister to make regulations for the payment to planning authorities of prescribed fees for a range of services provided. In this regard, under section 247 of the principal Act, before making a planning application, a person may request a...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: This amendment, which proposes to introduce a new classification of "communications and data infrastructure", will allow data centres above a specified size threshold to be designated as strategic infrastructure development in the Seventh Schedule to the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. In effect, this will allow planning applications for qualifying data centres to avail of the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: I thank the Senators for their support for this amendment, which we have flagged over many months. We said in 2017 that we would introduce a proposal of this nature on Report Stage as part of our efforts to deal with these issues in this planning Bill. The Government is proceeding with caution in this area, which is under constant review. Data centres are prioritised by IDA Ireland and the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: Amendments Nos. 45 to 48 amend section 3 of the 2016 Act to include "shared accommodation" in the definition of strategic housing development, which was originally introduced in the 2016 Act. This requires consequential amendments to sections 5, 8, and 13 of the 2016 Act to incorporate shared accommodation within the established strategic housing development provisions. Shared accommodation...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Murphy, is not proposing that the Government will build such developments with taxpayers' money. This is about people having a choice. Developers will build something if there is a need for it. Our planners and our team in the Department engage with their colleagues from jurisdictions all over the world. I remember when when...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: This group of amendments relates to the vacant site levy provisions in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015. As Members will be aware, the 2015 Act introduced the concept of the vacant site levy for the purpose of incentivising the development of vacant and underutilised sites and urban areas for housing and regeneration purposes. It was with the intention of bringing such sites back...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: The original charge was based on 0.1 of a hectare. As a result of an amendment tabled by Deputy Mick Wallace, it was increased to 0.5 of a hectare. However, the size can be examined again in the future when we will probably fight over what the figure should be. The charge will kick in from 2019, but the money will only be collected from 2020. It is not the case that the introduction of...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: There is the option of getting land back. On vacant houses, we totally and utterly want to do more in that space. Vacant office sites are being allocated to local authorities. A lot of work has been done in adopting a carrot and stick approach which works both ways. We need to strengthen the stick, something we are considering.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: The amendment proposes to provide for an increase in the levy that can be applied by local authorities on the owners of sites included in the derelict sites registers kept by local authorities. In that connection, the amendment provides for the substitution of section 23(3) of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 with a revised section incorporating the proposed increased rate of levy, from 3%.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grant Data (13 Jun 2018)

Damien English: My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability, in respect of private housing. There are three separate grants available and local authorities receive an overall allocation, with responsibility for the apportionment between the schemes being a matter for each local authority. The recently announced funding...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Rental Accommodation Scheme (12 Jun 2018)

Damien English: I thank the Senator for raising this issue and acknowledge his concerns about the operation of the rental accommodation scheme. I should be able to bring some clarity to the matter, given that it is down to interpretation, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss it in the Seanad. This issue has crossed our desks recently via various people. RAS was first introduced in 2004 and has met the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Rental Accommodation Scheme (12 Jun 2018)

Damien English: I thank Senator Davitt for raising this issue. It is important we bring clarity to the issue and I am happy to do that.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jun 2018)

Damien English: Amendment No. 1 is a simple technical amendment to incorporate a reference in the Long Title of the Bill to marine spatial planning, which is the subject also of amendments Nos. 55 to 65, inclusive. The amendment to the Long Title also incorporates a new reference to the Derelict Sites Act, which is also the subject of a subsequent Government amendment. Amendments Nos. 55 to 65, inclusive,...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (12 Jun 2018)

Damien English: On several occasions in previous debates, I flagged that amendments would be introduced on Report Stage. I am conscious that the Bill has been going through both House for two years. The whole idea of having the two strategies aligned is because we are trying to bring in forward-thinking plans for the next 25 years. It is not the marine plan. It will allow for the legislation. We will...