Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 13:

In page 14, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “Report on substitute consent

23.The Minister shall, within 18 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining-

(a) the number of applications for substitute consent received in the preceding 18 month period which were made and the number granted

(b) any impacts identified in respect of other planning applications, and

(c) the relevant exceptional circumstance in respect of each successful application.”.

Again, the amendment seeks a report on substitute consent, which is fundamental to assessing the concerns I have outlined. Maybe they will come to pass and maybe they will not, or maybe there will be the scenarios that Senator Cummins has outlined, where nobody will want to use these provisions at all, but let us see what happens and let us have a report so we can debate it.

The amendment suggests that within 18 months of the passing of the Act, a report would be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas outlining how many applications for substitute consent were received in the 18-month period, how many applications were made and the number granted, and whether there were impacts on other planning applications. My concern is that this would become a route that is used rather than the other route. Perhaps people will still continue to use the other route or perhaps they will not, but this is the point where we would make sure that we do not have any adverse consequences - some might say unintended or inadvertent consequences, but certainly potential consequences - which I foresee could happen under the Bill.

With anything like this, we want to be proven wrong and we want it to turn out fine, but let us have a report where we can look to the patterns and, crucially, see the relevant exceptional circumstances in regard to each successful application. This is fundamental because, previously, those seeking the application had to go through a High Court process and a scrutinising as to whether they met the exceptional circumstances criterion. The point is that every individual application, and certainly every successful application, should have been able to prove that it was an exception and that the particular application was not the norm and was an exception that was different from others. That is why ensuring that the granting of substitute consent has remained an exception and not become a rule is important. Paragraph (c) of the amendment is so we can identify the patterns and the kinds of exceptional circumstances behind decisions that have been made in respect of each application. Again, the question is whether they are genuinely exceptional rather than rules or blankets. It is very clear that each individual application will need to have such a circumstance attached, so I ask why not look at it in 18 months.

I have suggested to the Houses of the Oireachtas that if the Minister preferred to bring such a report to the relevant committee and have it survey this, that would also be very valuable. However, it is very important, when we do something like this, that we try to make sure we monitor how it unfolds. We have had many situations in planning where we are fixing problems after the fact and then trying to remove fixes around other problems again and again. This is a chance to monitor a very significant set of decisions to see how they are folding out within 18 months, so we have time to either adapt or reverse course, if necessary.