Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I must oppose the amendment which relates to the changes proposed in the Bill to the Part VIII procedures for the approval of local authority own-development proposals, including social housing. In this regard, the Bill proposes a number of key changes to the existing procedures in section 179 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The public consultation period for a proposed local authority own-development proposal is being shortened from eight weeks to six. Subsequent to the public consultation process, the local authority chief executive will have eight weeks to issue a report to the elected council members on the proposed development and the public consultation process held. No timeline is incorporated into the Part VIII approval procedures for the submission of the chief executive's report to the members which could significantly delay decisions on the approval or otherwise of such development proposals. After receiving the chief executive's report on the public consultation on a proposed development, the elected members will have six weeks in which to consider the proposal and, by resolution, to vary, modify or decide not to proceed with the proposed development. A council resolution on a Part VIII proposal will require the support of a majority of the elected members, rather than a majority of the members present at the meeting, as applies at present. This is in line with normal democratic procedures and a better proposal. A resolution not to proceed with a development must state the reasons for this decision.

The primary purpose of the changes is to streamline the timelines for decision making on local authority development proposals, thereby providing certainty around the timeframes for the Part VIII process. Under the revised procedures, the maximum timeframe for the determination of local authority own-development proposals will be 20 weeks from the date of issue of the proposals for public consultation. As I have indicated, under the current procedures, there is no maximum timeframe for completion of the Part VIII process which could result in significant delays in the delivery of local authority own-development proposals, including social housing.

The amendment proposed by Senators Grace O'Sullivan and Victor Boyhan would result in the adoption of different procedures and approval timelines for social housing development proposals, on the one hand, and other local authority own-development proposals, on the other, which I do not think would be a good idea. The proposed new streamlined Part VIII procedures should apply to all local authority own-development proposals, whether they relate to social housing, road enhancements, other infrastructure, libraries, swimming pools or any other form of local authority own-development. In essence, the amendment proposed by the Senators would run contrary to the intention of the Bill, which is to streamline the Part VIII process for all local authority developments, be it housing, works supporting housing or otherwise. On this basis, I must oppose the amendment.