Results 3,561-3,580 of 6,937 for speaker:Cian O'Callaghan

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

Cian O'Callaghan: Mr. Ryan feels that on the basis of the team being quite small, it would not make sense to have a statutory or formal appeal mechanism.

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

Cian O'Callaghan: Appeal is good practice in terms of accountability in any organisation. Sometimes, for whatever reason, an organisation can get useful feedback from that process as well and so the issue is the absence of that. In my reading of head 328, there is no obligation to publish a report once a review of planning functions has been undertaken by the office. In terms of transparency and...

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

Cian O'Callaghan: My read and interpretation of that are that, regardless of the caveats, "may" continues to pertain. Is Mr. Cussen's interpretation that reviews "shall" be published subject to those caveats?

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

Cian O'Callaghan: Would Mr. Cussen be in favour of this provision being clearer to provide that reviews "shall" be published, subject to the caveats that are listed?

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

Cian O'Callaghan: The OPR will be able to intervene in clear breaches of national policy but in terms of potential ambiguity between detailed local plans and general national policy, I cannot see how the Bill resolves that.

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

Cian O'Callaghan: The use of the phrase "may publish" is significant because it also means the office may not publish something. That is where I see the question.

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

Cian O'Callaghan: I wish to follow on from an issue we raised with the Department a couple of days ago that concerned head 8 of this Bill and section 5 declarations. Does the board or the Office of the Planning Regulator have data on how many section 5 declarations, which have been appealed to An Bord Pleanála, are overturned? Is there a breakdown of who seeks the section 5 declarations that go to An...

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

Cian O'Callaghan: That would be useful. Head 420 concerns the annual reports by An Bord Pleanála and gives a timeline of "not later than the 30th day of June in each year." Is there current legislative requirements around that? There is. What is the situation with the 2021 report? Has it been published and, if not, when will it be published?

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

Cian O'Callaghan: Head 402 concerns the declaration of interests and provides for the small part-ownership of a site through shares. It refers to one hundredth part of a site or less, or €13,000 or less, whichever is the lesser. I understand the logic whereby if I own shares in some company I am not going to know what sites the company owns and so forth. Are those provisions robust enough not...

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

Cian O'Callaghan: Yes, absolutely. I wonder in terms of this Bill if we are trying to create a culture of absolute avoidance of any doubt whatsoever or any questions. Technically, under that Bill, you could have shares in one of the large publicly listed developers in Ireland and as long as it is worth less than €13,000 or less than one hundredth of that company then one is fine. Does that mean it...

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

Cian O'Callaghan: Recently there has been an issue, and it has been documented, of a problem of informal requests to inspectors to amend their reports by members of the board. Is that something that should or should not be covered by this legislation? Is that the detail that this Bill should get into or not?

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

Cian O'Callaghan: A counter view could be that it was not covered under legislation, there was ambiguity and the codes failed to capture it. Given the need for public confidence and the level of detail in the Bill, should these be captured?

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

Cian O'Callaghan: Earlier we talked about the growing complexity of decisions and appeals. Obviously there are staffing issues and the issues that were mentioned about getting enough expertise inhouse. My question relates somewhat to head 318. Is there a significant issue with the board being able to get enough technical expertise to assist with analysing submissions on complex planning or technical areas...

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

Cian O'Callaghan: Does that lead to delays in the decision-making process when trying to source expertise?

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic and Social Council (8 Feb 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 17. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council. [4446/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Programme for Government (8 Feb 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 8. To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the programme for Government. [4445/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Programme for Government (8 Feb 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: Since Fine Gael took office in 2011, rates of home ownership have fallen very significantly. To counter this, we need at least 10,000 affordable homes each year. In the first three quarters of last year, fewer than 1,000 affordable and cost rental homes were delivered. At the same time, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is returning hundreds of millions of euro...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (8 Feb 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 156. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the way he will ensure the outcomes of the public consultation on the Review of Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations will be included in the drafting of legislation to support the remediation of apartments and duplexes with fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects, constructed between 1991 and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (8 Feb 2023)

Cian O'Callaghan: 157. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the legislation for remediation of apartments and duplexes with fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects, constructed between 1991 and 2013, will ensure the replacement of cladding systems paid for by public redress funds will be targeted towards the application of non-combustible materials only; and if he...