Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendment No. 13, as tabled, which seeks to amend the Bill by deleting the provision that repeals section 177B of the principal Act. I cannot accept the proposed amendment, as one of the key objectives of the Bill is that the current two-stage substitute consent process - which includes various alternate initial steps prior to applying for substitute consent, such as that contained in section 177B - is to be replaced with a single-stage substitute consent application process that is fully in compliance with the environmental impact assessment directive and related ECJ judgments, such as the Derrybrien judgment and the recent Supreme Court judgment on quarries and substitute consent.

For information, section 177B of the Act provides that where a planning authority becomes aware of a development granted permission for which a screening, environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment was or is required, and in respect of which a final judgment of an Irish court or the ECJ has been made that the permission was in breach of law, the planning authority must direct the person to apply to the board for substitute consent. The requirement to obtain leave from the board under sections 177C and 177D or a direction from a planning authority under section 177B to apply for substitute consent is being repealed, in which case a person can apply for substitute consent directly to the board.

I note that it is presently the case that if a person requested to submit a substitute consent application under section 177B refuses to do so, it will become a planning enforcement matter for the relevant planning authority, pursuant to sections 177O(3) and (4) of the principal Act. The deletion of section 177B does not change the fact that if a developer is operating an unauthorised development which should have been subject to environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment but which was not, the development can still be subject to planning enforcement by the relevant planning authority in the normal way, in accordance with the provisions of section 154 of the principal Act. In this regard, there is no diminution of the planning authority’s ability to initiate planning enforcement against unauthorised development. It is for this reason that I must oppose amendment No.13.