Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Section 14 proposes to amend section 262(4) of the 2000 Act which provides that certain regulations made under the Act are subject to a requirement to get positive approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas. Regulations determining the types of development which are approved under the special procedure which applies for certain State developments, mostly security related, will continue to be subject to the positive approval requirement. However, the amendment would remove the requirement to get positive approval for the procedural regulations in relation to these developments, that is, the regulations setting out the detail of how these developments are notified, the documents that must be included and so forth.

During its passage through the Oireachtas the 2000 Act was amended to ensure important regulations made under the Act such as those exempting development or setting fees would be subject to the positive approval of both Houses. A number of planning regulations have already been the subject of this procedure, including the consolidated 2001 regulations.

The types of regulations subject to this procedure are substantive, not procedural. However, due to an oversight, positive approval is required for both types of developments by State authorities which, for security reasons, are subject to a different procedure. As matters stand, therefore, even minor changes to the procedures, for example, changing the scale of the maps which must be provided, are subject to the requirement to seek positive approval. This was not the intention and is an unduly onerous requirement given that no substantive change has been made in the types of developments included. I propose, therefore, to provide that only substantive changes to the types of development involved will be subject to positive approval.