Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming before the House today. On Second Stage, I asked the Minister a specific question. In his opening address, he used a timescale of two years or 24 months repeatedly, obviously to emphasise, in his opinion, the delays in the process. I asked the him to provide the evidence for that, just as Senator Ó Clochartaigh has now also requested it. I have the transcript of that debate. I was obliged to leave at the time because I had to receive a deputation that evening, as I told the Minister, but I went back over the transcript in the interim. I saw nothing from the Minister's response that actually explains what evidence there is to support his position.To me, this is an attempt to solve something, but it is the wrong way of going about it. During the recession, planning applications decreased massively. Local authorities that might have been receiving 1,500 planning applications each year saw that number reduce to a trickle. Naturally, staff were redesignated within local authorities and some planning staff left local authorities. Now planning staff are coming under pressure as housing applications start to come in again. Even though the Minister and his predecessor have made financial provision for the recruitment of technical staff, those positions have not been filled in many local authorities. At the moment, we have a dearth of staff in planning offices. Rather than putting staff back into local authorities, the Minister, with the approval of the Cabinet, has decided to set up a new strategic planning unit within An Bord Pleanála in anticipation of the next round of planning applications. I think that is the wrong way of going about it. The staff should be beefed up at the local authority level.

When I spoke on this Bill on Second Stage, I placed a strong emphasis on the need for the local knowledge of the members of local councils. As I look around the Chamber, it strikes me that at least half of the Senators who are present are former councillors. Now that someone else has sat down, perhaps I cannot say that the vast majority of us are former councillors. I will explain how the relationship between councillors and planners works. Councillors are able to talk to planners and planners are able to talk to councillors. Even if one was not dealing personally with the case under discussion, one might have local knowledge of the area. All councillors receive calls from planners who want to know whether there might be some situation that is not apparent on an application in a certain area. They offer their support in such circumstances. That will be completely lost under this Bill. The Minister has said that provision will be made for discussions with councillors at local level. The problem is that this will possibly be written into the code, but it just will not happen. Again, we will have a pulling away of democracy at local level. When people wonder how a 300-house development came up in an area, their elected councillors will tell them they had nothing to do with it and it is a matter for An Bord Pleanála. As I said on Second Stage, ancillary facilities such as takeaways could be attached to such developments even though that might be contrary to what the local councillors provided for in the development plan when the area was being zoned. The big problem is that members of local authorities will have no control over what goes into these areas.

On Second Stage, Senator Boyhan raised the case that was made by the Association of Irish Local Government. I support that case, which is that local councillors are elected to deal with issues at local level, rather than to hand responsibility for such issues to a centralised body like An Bord Pleanála. The biggest development ever seen in this country was Dundrum shopping centre. That did not go to An Bord Pleanála because those involved in the preplanning phase of the development went through the application with a fine-tooth comb. They looked at it upside down and inside out until the planners, developers, residents and all the people affected by it were satisfied. The idea that big council developments will automatically be satisfactory because they will go through the councils to An Bord Pleanála does not stand up. Equally, the assumption that is being made with regard to planned developments of more than 100 units does not stand up. Developers will build smaller numbers of units because of financial constraints.

I would like to mention another situation that has happened across the country. I will mention as an example a housing development of 100 units that was built but with zoned land behind the estate not being built on. The people who bought the 100 units were led to believe that their houses would be the only development in the estate. Two years later, the developer came back and looked for permission to build another 200 houses behind the houses that were already built. Nothing could be done about it. This behaviour is going to go on and on. I suggest we should tackle the number of planning applications that are pending at present. I understand that planning permission has been granted for 43,000 units in the Dublin area. I am open to correction in that regard.