Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. I thank Senator Davitt for raising it.

The Minister is aware that there are provisions in planning legislation whereby an existing planning permission for development, including of rural housing, may be extended in duration under certain circumstances to allow development to take place. The Minister would like to clarify the position on such extensions of duration.

Section 42 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, enables the holder of a planning permission to apply to a planning authority for up to two extensions to the appropriate period of the permission, provided that the combined duration of both extensions does not exceed five years. The granting of such an extension is, however, subject to the planning authority being satisfied that the development has been commenced, substantial works have been carried out, the development will be completed in reasonable time and an environmental impact assessment and appropriate assessment are not required for the proposed extension. Further extensions are currently permitted under section 7 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2021 in the context of delays and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This provides for the extension of the appropriate period of up to two years or until 31 December 2023, whichever first occurs, subject to the planning authority being satisfied that such an extension is appropriate. This provision applies to extant permissions due to expire and to permissions which expired between 8 January 2021 and 8 September 2021. These provisions, overall, allow for a reasonable period for developments to be completed in the context of delays related to the impact of the pandemic.

The construction of homes in our rural communities is an important and continuing feature of housing delivery in Ireland, providing an average of 5,000 new homes annually. Updated rural housing planning guidelines are being prepared by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The updated guidelines will expand on the high-level spatial planning policy of the national planning framework, NPF, in particular national policy objective, NPO, 19, which relates to rural housing.

The proposed draft rural housing guidelines will set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing, based on the high-level policy framework set out by the NPF. The guidelines will continue to allow county development plans to provide for housing in the countryside based on the considerations detailed in NPO 19 of the NPF and will highlight the need to manage development in certain areas, such as areas around cities and larger towns, and environmentally sensitive areas, in order to avoid overdevelopment. The guidelines are at an advanced stage of drafting and environmental assessments are nearing completion. It is intended to publish the draft guidelines for a period of public consultation when the environmental assessments are complete. This is expected to happen in quarter 2 of this year. Following the period of consultation, and with any subsequent changes made, the guidelines will be submitted to the Minister for approval to publish. Once issued, planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála will be required to have regard to the guidelines in carrying out their functions.