Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 26:

In page 44, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:"8.Section 13 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

"(1A) Notwithstanding paragraph (e) of subsection (10) of section 140 of the Local Government Act 2001 as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014, a resolution under that section may apply or extend to the executive function of initiating a variation under this section.".".

The adoption of a development plan is a reserved function to elected councillors, as is the making of a variation to the development plan. The Act currently provides that the initiation of a variation is an executive function of the council's chief executive. Therefore, although councillors have the ultimate power to make a variation, they cannot initiate the process to exercise that power. On Committee Stage, Senator Boyhan and I argued for the power to initiate a variation to be made a reserved function of councillors. The Minister of State understood our concerns but he was concerned that the full shift of function might go too far. Taking that into account, I propose that we enable the use of a special, important power in section 140 of the Local Government Act, which allows councillors to direct the chief executive of a local authority to exercise an executive function in a particular instance. That power does not generally apply to functions under the Planning and Development Act. I propose that the function of initiating a variation should be the only planning power where the section 140 procedure could be used.

The Minister of State is aware of some of the circumstances in which such a variation would be initiated by local councillors if my amendment is agreed. For example, in the case of St. Catherine's Park in County Kildare, the Fingal county development plan contains an objective for a major road leading straight into the park. The development plan objective is in the plan because Fingal councillors did not realise where the road led. As soon as they understood the implications of the plan, they set about trying to vary the plan to delete the road objective. However, they soon found that, as councillors, they cannot initiate a variation. For whatever reason, the chief executive has not initiated the variation and local residents and councillors on both sides of the Fingal-Kildare boundary are left with a development plan which they unanimously want to change. My party colleagues, Councillor Roderic O'Gorman in Fingal County Council and Vincent P. Martin in Kildare have drawn this matter to my attention. That is only one example but it is a very good one. More information will emerge about this case on which councillors want to make a good decision. I hope the Minister of State will agree to this amendment to ensure the democratic effectiveness of our planning system.