Seanad debates

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Paudie CoffeyPaudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There have been many debates on the housing crisis in this Chamber, the Dáil and local authority chambers around the country. We all acknowledge and recognise that there is a housing crisis in this country. In my view, crisis interventions are required. This Bill is just one of the interventions that are being made by the Minister and the Government. I have said previously that the Government is doing everything in its power through legislation, the provision of funding and other initiatives to try to kick-start the construction sector so that it can provide social and private housing to those who are most in need. I have the utmost respect for Members of this House, especially those who have served on local authorities, as I did for over eight years. I have a fundamental belief in the primacy of the mandate of local elected members. I recognise the opportunity for local authority members to tease out some of the issues or concerns around this Bill. As a former councillor, the Minister can explain this. I know he has engaged with many local authority members from around the country and their representative bodies, including the Association of Irish Local Government, which I commend on its strong submission on this Bill. That is the way it should be. I understand the concerns being expressed.

I understand this Bill will ensure that housing is only built on lands that are specifically zoned for residential purposes by local authority members. I ask the Minister to clarify this on the record of this House for once and for all because the power of zoning is one of the primary reserved functions of local authority members. Can he clarify for local authority members that An Bord Pleanála, or any other agency for that matter, will not be given any additional powers to grant permission for housing in areas that are not already zoned by local authority members? The fundamental point is that this is the fundamental power that local authority members have. I ask the Minister to clarify that this is not being diminished in any way. In fact, it is probably being enhanced because under this legislation, An Bord Pleanála will be able to grant permissions in respect of zoned lands only. The Minister can correct me if I am wrong in my belief that before now it was possible for An Bord Pleanála to grant permission in respect of lands that might have had a different zoning. This is one area he might address.

It is important for us to debate the issues that are of concern and listen to local authority members, who are the closest public representatives to the ground in our democratic system. Many councillors understand that we need some kind of positive and proactive legislative measure to try to kick-start large-scale housing, primarily in larger urban areas. We should honestly admit that much of this legislation will probably not apply to three quarters of local authorities in this country because they do not have the required demand for large-scale urban development. One of the mistakes we made in the past was that we allowed large housing estates to be built in small rural areas where there was insufficient need or demand for such housing. The Housing Agency is doing a lot of good work to analyse the demographic changes, the types of houses that are needed and where those houses are needed. I expect An Bord Pleanála, which I recognise is an independent agency, to utilise that information in terms of whatever permission is granted.

Before I conclude, I would like to assuage some of the concerns of local authority members, who are responsible for adopting county development plans and local area plans. Zoning plays an important part in that function. If a large-scale development is to happen in a local authority municipal area, I believe there should be some opportunity for the elected members in the municipal district to engage with the executive, possibly at the preplanning stage under this legislation, so that the elected local authority members in the area can let their views be known on the record.This would in turn form part of the report to be submitted back to An Bord Pleanála. I believe this would address many of the concerns that there be a genuine engagement with local authority members and the executives of local authorities before a proposal is referred to An Bord Pleanála for decision. We could move towards such an approach. I am interested to hear the Minister's views in that regard.

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