Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

This is the amendment to ensure the provision in this Act mirrors the equivalent provision in the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 which is being revised. The Bill, as approved by the Dáil, permitted a period of extension of planning permission from five to seven years in exceptional circumstances. The amendment reduces the maximum period of extension to five years. This will bring the period of the extension for planning permission into line with what it is intended to do generally on the enactment of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009. The test for the granting of an extension is amended to reflect amendments proposed in the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill. This incorporates an additional requirement so that the extension will be refused where changes in the development plan or development guidelines needing permission would not be granted were they applied for at a time the extension is sought.

The amendment further requires that in considering an application under the provision referred to, the planning authority will have regard to the guidelines issued by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The amendment also clarifies that an application can be made by the agency before or after a previous planning permission has expired where the planning permission expires in the years 2009, 2010 or 2011. Persons other than NAMA will not be entitled to seek an extension after permission has expired. The differentiation is justified because in certain circumstances the agency might acquire property after the permission has expired and so will not be in a position to make an application for extension within the normal time limit.