Results 981-1,000 of 2,180 for speaker:John Cummins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: I will focus on a couple of issues that have not been discussed so far. Section 256 refers to records of protected structures. In my 12 years on a council one of the frustrating aspects in this regard was that deletions from the record of protected structures could only occur in the context of the development plan, whereas additions could be made. The Bill provides for deletions or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: Sure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: It is the new section 256.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: Yes. On a related point, I believe the new section 257 corresponds with the old section 57. We do not have the corresponding Act here. Under this section, people can make a written request to a local authority to carry out works on a protected structure. It is essentially for a declaration that the works are exempt. A decision has to be made on that within a period of 12 weeks. If, as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: In his experience, would Mr. Kehoe accept that more significant developments typically go through the planning application process as opposed to section 57, which is generally used for smaller works that may be required?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: That would be welcome.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: I accept that point. However, if we want to try to speed things up and not clog up the planning system with an additional workload, we need to think outside the box about how to speed up other elements of the process. I will move to the representatives of the assemblies. In his opening statement, Mr. Minton cited an issue with the extent of the commuting zone in the MASP. Could our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: Is Ms Bannon saying it could potentially reduce the area? I would have said that it could extend-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: I have a bugbear around this issue, to be frank. The Waterford MASP, for example, does not include the population of Tramore, which is 8 km out the road from Waterford city, whereas the Cork MASP includes Carrigaline, which is 17 km away. The Galway MASP includes Bearna, which is further from the city than Tramore is from Waterford. I saw the inclusion of a commuting zone as a positive. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: That does not explain the exclusion of Tramore from the Waterford city MASP.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: Perhaps Mr. Kelly could elaborate on that point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: The committee will make recommendations in respect of the draft Bill. Perhaps Mr. Kelly would like to send follow-up correspondence to the committee to assist us to form those recommendations. He could tell us how he would like that to be framed. I am being parochial with the particular point about Waterford but the applicability of that example extends to other cities. How do we capture...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: I think Mr. Kehoe wanted to make a point. Do the 541 staff referred to previously exist? We have an issue with An Bord Pleanála. We all acknowledge that we need additional staffing and resources but the real question is whether the staff exist.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: Councillor Sheahan referenced the rural planning guidelines. Unfortunately, we did not get to tease this out in the first meeting with the acting chief planner, Mr. Paul Hogan. He did make the comment in that context that he had good news about the rural planning guidelines but he did not get to elaborate on it. We have a mid-term review provided for and that is one of the issues I assure...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: Has the local authority made a submission in that respect?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: I thank Mr. Kehoe. Could Mr. Killian please respond?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: All politics is local.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: Just to follow up on that, the draft is to be published next month and it would be helpful if we had sight of the comments in that respect. The planners in each of the local authority areas, who are engaging with the sector and know what is appropriate for their areas, are the best people to adjudicate on this. It would be helpful to have councillors' submission in that respect.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Staff (15 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. This is an important matter. It calls on the Minister for Education to introduce a voluntary national post-primary redeployment panel which would facilitate the transfer of teachers from one area of the country to another while retaining their permanent status under contracts of indefinite duration, CIDs. As someone who taught in an...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Staff (15 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: I appreciate the Minister of State is only relaying the information he has been given. He made comments in respect of the operation of the pilot voluntary redeployment scheme, which is fantastic for counties Longford, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly, but what about every other county in the country? There are teachers in those areas who want to get closer to home and if there is a matching...