Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators Bannon and Cummins. These amendments relate to the new power being given to the board allowing it to attach community gain conditions to a draft permission, a matter on which we had a long discussion earlier. The amendments would delete the subsection (8) that provides for the community gain condition to be proportionate; the subsection states that the financial contribution required to comply with the community gain condition should not be so large as to essentially make it financially unviable for the developer to carry out the development.

I know all Senators support this change to planning law which, while simple, is in some way quite radical. I can appreciate the sentiment which would seek to ensure the absolute maximum for local communities is forthcoming after a planning case has been through the process. However, this clause was inserted on foot of discussions with the Parliamentary Counsel to ensure that the provision, or any condition imposed on it, could not be challenged as unfair. Furthermore, it is perfectly reasonable to ensure that the condition to provide for community gain is not used as a way of refusing permission by the back door, granting permission but making the community gain condition so burdensome as to essentially dissuade the applicant from carrying out the development.

There is another point. While reading through the papers earlier, it struck me that removing the word "conditional" could have two outcomes, namely, that a condition could be disproportionately large or disproportionately small. That would not be the intention of anybody in this House. The idea of having a proportionate community gain condition is wise and prudent in the circumstances. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to accept the amendments. If the Senator thinks through what I have said, particularly my last point, he would realise that all sorts of perverse and completely unforeseeable and undesirable changes could flow if we were to remove the word "conditional".