Results 6,161-6,180 of 15,009 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank Mr. Hogan and his team for the presentation and for all of their efforts on this issue. I will make some opening remarks and then ask some questions. In my view, a good planning system is one that makes high-quality planning decisions in a timely manner but with meaningful public participation. That is something for which many of us in this committee have argued for a long time....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I do not want to cut across Mr. Hogan, but our time is limited. Are the 541 posts to meet existing requirements?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I assume to then ensure the full delivery of the aspiration in this very significant Bill, there will need to be a significant increase beyond that, in particular if we are going to have a significant increase in new plans or statutory timelines for decisions. Would that be a reasonable assumption?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: There will be need for more than 451 posts.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: The second area of questions relates to the planning statements, which will replace the section 28 mandatory ministerial guidelines, how the planning statement then relates to section 62, which is expedited, and then the development plans where the development plan is no longer consistent with the new planning statement and section 120(2)(c) material contraventions. In the short time...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: It is to do with the national planning statements. The intention is for that power to replace what we currently understand as the section 28 ministerial guidelines. That new planning statement provision also then interacts with sections 62 and 120. When a Minister, for example, introduces a planning statement, there is a procedure for a fast-track to change the development plan and a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I have a long list of parliamentary questions going back about five years on the rural planning guidelines. We were constantly told they would be published in the next quarter and we have not yet received them. That is for another day.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: We can do that later. I want to go back to section 22 and the Minister's planning statement. A number of years ago, a judicial review of a residential development was pretty much unheard of. The small number of judicial reviews that took place on an annual basis were mainly about strategic infrastructure developments or large commercial units. There is a mistaken perception that the cause...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: No, section 122C, relating to material contraventions. There is no formal role for the Oireachtas or public in the planning statement. Is that correct? I am not saying it is a good or bad thing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: My point is a different one because I do not disagree with that at all. The issue is that where very significant changes to the planning code are made either through the new section 22 statement or the old mandatory ministerial guidelines, if the Bill does not have a formal role for the Oireachtas, including Oireachtas approval, that creates a problem in terms of democratic legitimacy....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: They were mandatory ministerial guidelines after the 2016 change.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: The issue is that was the case with the removal of building height caps or the introduction of a completely different set of design standards for standards for apartments for build to rent. Those two things were responsible for many of the successful judicial reviews, whether people agreed with them. Sections 22, 62 and 122C are trying to prevent that problem from happening again when a new...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: It also requires the approval of Government.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am not being in any way adversarial but, in respect of legal terms, while they might have different names the process is the same. The Minister and his or her officials design a policy statement which has to have the approval of Government and Cabinet. It then, in effect, becomes a significant change to the planning rules. There is nothing different this time around. It is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: Just to press this point - in terms of the drafting and approvals of the statements, nothing will change. However, sections 62 and 122 will ensure these statements are not only enacted through the planning decisions and development plans but, ultimately, in the courts. This is a significant change, is it not? I am not passing a judgment one way or another.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I have a final point on clarification. One instance where the old regime fell foul was in the context of strategic development zones, SDZs. I do not see any language in the sections I have mentioned that pertain to SDZs. I know there is a separate section at the end, but is it envisaged that the same procedure outlined in sections 22, 62 and 120 would be applied with respect to any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: But it is not something we have in front of us at the moment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will come in again in the next round if that is possible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: My next set of questions relates to changes to judicial review and section 249. I will preface the remarks by saying that in a really well-functioning planning system, very little would go to judicial review. In terms of both the detail of the plan-led approach and clarity in terms of the formal decision and appeal, the planning system would be sufficient. I am not an advocate for more...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (7 Feb 2023)

Eoin Ó Broin: Go ahead. I do not mind them.