Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their thoughtful contributions today. To put this in context, it is about urgent interim measures regarding An Bord Pleanála. Senator Moynihan and other Senators raised issues about the need for a consolidated planning Bill; we are doing that. We are bringing forward consolidated planning legislation, which I intend to bring to Cabinet on 13 December. It is the culmination of about 15 months of work looking at the various issues regarding planning since the Planning and Development Act 2000 and bringing that into a consolidated item of legislation. Should it get Cabinet approval, we will publish the Bill, hopefully in advance of Christmas, and that would then go to pre-legislative scrutiny early in the new year.

On Senator Pauline O'Reilly's point, that other legislation leaves it open for changes to be made that people may wish to see in that legislation. I hope, with the agreement of both Houses, that the consolidated legislation will pass by the end of the first quarter next year. We are implementing this Bill now because at present, there are five members of An Bord Pleanála; there is effectively no chairperson and there have been a number of highly critical reports that are not in the public domain for legal reasons. It is important that people see the content of them once the legal process is concluded; I have had said that publicly. The existing Act provides for the appointment of interim board members and we need to do that but the Minister cannot appoint a chairperson under the existing legislation right now. A deputy chair needs to be in place, which I have moved, to a point, but this Bill will give the deputy chairperson the powers of an interim chairperson. A director of planning that can allocate files to people is also needed. A big part of this Bill is making sure that the board can function right now at board level. Many Senators, such as Senators Cummins, Boyhan, Fitzpatrick and others have called for a transparent appointment process within An Bord Pleanála and that is what this Bill, once enacted, will bring forward. There will be a clear, transparent public appointment system through an expert panel that will advise the Minister. The current panel system is archaic and is not fit for purpose. By passing this legislation, we will reform that system and create a modern planning system for a modern Ireland. The measures we are taking in this Bill mean that we can bring the capacity of An Bord Pleanála in terms of board members up to what is needed, that is, up to 14 or 15 board members. We need that number to carry out the work that is there.

Senators have raised the issue, rightly so, of resourcing of the board. With Government colleagues, I approved 24 additional posts through the board earlier this year and more are being appointed now. We are looking at the workforce plan. We have also got agreement that there will be a director of legal affairs sitting on the board, which we want.We are moving forward right now, including with the advertisement for the marine planning expert to underpin what we want to do for our maritime area, around protecting and enhancing its biodiversity and restoring some the lost biodiversity and also harnessing the offshore renewable capacity and doing so in the right way. That is why the Seanad, although not with the agreement of all parties, passed the Maritime Area Planning Act to ensure that we tidy up and making it more efficient particularly around granting marine area consents for foreshore.

Senators Cummins and Pauline O'Reilly mentioned concerns that may have been raised by the wind energy sector. All we are doing with the foreshore amendments is clarifying an issue that came up in the summer. It is to ensure that it is dealt with and that it is very clear that the column of water above it is covered under the Act. That was raised with us and we were asked to deal with it. There are no further changes to it but people will know that once MARA is established, which I intend will happen in the first month of next year, where we have the board in place and will have a chief executive in place, then the marine area consents will be done through it. There will be a streamlined process. Senator O'Reilly rightly mentioned the difference between how long it takes to provide consents in Ireland compared with our nearest neighbour and that is not sustainable. As a country, we either want to be able to move forward in an efficient but respectful way, respecting our marine environment, with the offshore renewables or we do not. That is why the Maritime Area Planning Act is important. I thought we would get that through the Houses without dissent but we did not. There are people who say they want it but they do not want that legislation.

I have made a commitment to the Dáil that once we get approval at the Cabinet tomorrow on the amendments, which are about expediting the delivery of social and affordable housing on land that is already zoned and has already been identified by the local authority and is owned by a local authority or a State agency such as the HSE, that we will, of course, provide a briefing. That will form part of this Bill. I am doing that because I want it to be in place in January. A few weeks ago, people were calling for emergency measures. We have done emergency measures like the winter eviction ban but when we bring something forward that seeks to help that and address it, then people say they will not vote for something they have not seen. They will see that. I would say to Senator Moynihan that she will see the amendment in advance of voting for it. We will provide briefings on it too. We are very serious about using that amendment to ensure we can further step-up the delivery of social and affordable housing.

Senators Cummins and Fitzpatrick spoke about specifically focusing on using off-site construction, modular build. Some of the development land here has been in council ownership for decades but has not been developed. Everyone here will know schemes like that. The three parties in government have decided to provide a write-down of legacy debt on council lands, which councils hold but have been unable to develop, and we are tying that in with this. The State will write-down councils' debt if they bring forward schemes that we can start developing in 2023. It is responding directly to the housing need that we have right now.

Every Senator and all parties and none will have an opportunity to support this Bill or not. I respect the different views people have but we are either serious about the situation right now or we are not. No one is gazumping pre-legislative scrutiny, by the way. I want to remind Senators that the measures here were approved by the Cabinet on 4 October and we sent it forward for pre-legislative scrutiny on 4 October. Early on, some detailed engagement happened. It was the pre-legislative scrutiny report that was outstanding. That is all. It was not as though there were no discussions or briefings. That all happened. Maybe we need to look at how the pre-legislative scrutiny system itself works. I believe completely in pre-legislative scrutiny but these are measures that we need to take now to make sure the board is operating at capacity. We should do that.

I am trying to find the exact date when we sent it. On 4 October, the An Bord Pleanála reform agenda was agreed by the Cabinet and was then submitted for pre-legislative scrutiny which commenced on 10 November. Today is 6 December and it has been nearly two months. I am talking about legislation that was not that complex for those who read the Bill. We must also look at how long it takes to do pre-legislative scrutiny. Committees are busy. I really respect the work the joint committee has done on many things but we are looking at interim reform measures, which some of these measures are. The full reform agenda for An Bord Pleanála will be part of the consolidated planning Bill I will bring to the Cabinet on 13 December, which will come to the Seanad and the Dáil early next year after pre-legislative scrutiny.

I urge Senators to support the legislation in the spirit in which it has been asked. We have had to get the agreement of the Leader and the Seanad on this and I thank Members for having seen the urgency of the measures we need to bring forward. There will be further discussions on Thursday. I give a commitment. I am serious about delivering more social and affordable homes. This year this Government will deliver more social homes than have been delivered decades as well as affordable homes for purchase and rent for the first time in a generation and cost rental for the first time ever but I want to ramp that up. That is why we are bringing forward a time-bound measure to expedite planning for that particular cohort. It is about using modern methods of construction, which we will bring forward by way of an amendment on Thursday. I give a commitment that once the amendment has been approved by the Cabinet, we will provide a briefing on it in advance of Committee Stage on Thursday. I thank all the Senators who contributed to the debate in a pretty constructive way.