Seanad debates

Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House again. He is always more than willing to come here. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which I welcome for many reasons as the Minister of State has outlined, particularly due to the provisions for electronic planning, which will make things much easier for people.I also welcome the provisions on taking into consideration, when assessing a plan, whether the applicant has been responsible for bad planning in the past such as housing estates that were left unfinished.

I want to raise an issue that is not addressed in the Bill and represents a missed opportunity. I hope the Minister will be prepared to accept an amendment on it on Committee Stage. This concerns planning itself. The regulator will have many powers but will not have power relating to the regulation of planners. The Irish Planning Institute is very concerned about the matter. At the moment anyone can call himself or herself a planner. I can act as a planner. As I said, anyone can. There is no protection for the public. The institute wants the situation that pertains to other professions to apply, that is, that there would be a register and a council to oversee proper training, qualifications and standards. It would also have the power to sanction, advise and admonish and to remove a practitioner's licence. It would, therefore, need to be the licensing authority as well. It would be independent of Government, as is the Medical Council, An Bord Altranais, CORU, etc.

This is critically important and very much in the public interest. At the moment people are vulnerable to those who call themselves planners but do not have appropriate qualifications and who are not in breach of any law or regulation. I, therefore, want us to take the opportunity to put in place a proper register of planners so that we can all feel protected when getting the service we require and knowing it is a quality service.

Last night I was at a meeting in Donabate attended by more than 100 local people who are concerned with planning issues in the area. They welcomed that new houses will be built but they want sustainable development. They want to be assured around issues such as flood plains, transport, roads, rail, schools, etc. They are also concerned about enforcement, which other Senators mentioned. Currently, we have a 750 cm pathway outside one of our local schools with heavy trucks and lorries going by it during school opening and closing hours. This was prohibited under the planning permission given to the Central Mental Hospital. I am not sure if these trucks relate to this development or to other developments but this is a public health and safety issue. There is a danger of a serious injury or fatality occurring and it is a major concern for people. Enforcement is a big issue and it can be addressed during the passage of the Bill. I am sure the Minister of State will take it on board.

I have limited time but I will mention quickly the national planning framework. I have already raised in the House my concerns about unforeseen consequences for places such as Fingal and Swords that will be limited in their development and the ratio of brownfield sites to greenfield sites. We have very few in Fingal which means that very few houses may be built on greenfield sites. That is one interpretation we could take. The other unintended consequence would be prices in Dublin city driving up the price of brownfield sites and making houses even more unaffordable in Dublin. We do not want to see that.

We need to speak up for Dublin as well. Without being parochial about it, we need development throughout the country. If we consider Dublin Airport and the €8.3 billion that it contributes to our economy, and remember that for every job, nine other jobs are created, it has the planning permission for four buildings. Some 4,000 office workers will move in there. Where will they want to live? They will not all want to live in Dublin. They will want to live in Fingal and in the area near to their work. This makes sense socially and community-wise and from a green economy perspective given that there will be a shorter distance to travel to work. We do not want unforeseen circumstances strangling Dublin Airport and what is an important part of our economy and an economic contributor not just to Fingal but to the entire country.

There could not be a more important time for us to incorporate this amendment on a register for planners. We are speaking about a capital plan of in excess of €110 billion; we are considering a national planning framework; and Rebuilding Ireland is telling us that we need to build 500 new homes over the coming years. This is a time when IBEC and the ESRI state that as many as 800,000 new homes are required given an expected population increase of 1 million to 1.6 million, depending on the source.

With plans for ever-increasing density within Dublin city, proper planning of amenities and, in particular, green spaces will be essential. We will need these well qualified and experienced planners to be available to us to achieve the best outcome. These are people who will be innovative and will think outside the box. They will get the best for our communities from our new buildings and developments. I hope that the Minister of State will work with me and I look forward to working with his officials on the amendment so that we do not miss this golden opportunity. It is a public interest issue. The public needs protection from unscrupulous individuals who portray themselves as planners when they are not. We need to protect people from substandard planning practice.

I will finish by stating that we need a registrar with the power of sanction, including loss of licence. This will also ensure standards in training and practice and a code of ethics. Those in the Irish Planning Institute want it and so do other planners. It is in everyone's interest that the reputation of planners, many of whom are excellent people, is protected and the public is protected as well.

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