John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Boyhan on being able to speak for longer than 15 minutes. I will be sharing time with Senator Seery Kearney.

As has been mentioned, this is a colossal Bill. It is 747 pages, has 22 Parts, six Schedules and 590 sections. It is the biggest overhaul of our planning legislation in a quarter of a century. Why are we doing it? We are doing it to bring clarity, consistency and certainty to our planning system for the next quarter of a century and beyond. It would therefore be remiss of me at the outset not to acknowledge all the people who have worked on this Bill to date. I refer to the officials in the Department, particularly in the joint Oireachtas committee, of which I am fortunate to be a member. I refer also to the secretariat, all the members of the committee and all the stakeholders who fed information throughout the pre-legislative scrutiny process. It was collaborative and collegial. We worked together to prepare a pre-legislative scrutiny report that had 150 recommendations in it, many of which have been factored in by officials and fed into the Bill. It has evolved from the general scheme that was published right up to the Bill that we have before us today, which was passed by Dáil Éireann last week.

The Bill is obviously too big for me to go through all its sections, so I will just touch on a few areas. One of the issues I have been consistently raising is one with which we are all in lockstep, namely, the issue of certainty regarding timelines for decision-making. We have an excellent local authority system that is streamlined and that provides decisions to people in relation to planning within an eight-week period. We are now allowing for a 12-week period for complex issues. I know amendments will be tabled from all quarters in relation to various sections that are available. One of the areas I have highlighted is in relation to section 113 of the Bill, which deals with an coimisiún pleanála and the statutory timelines that have been set down. I want to say at the outset that I welcome the fact that there will now be statutory decision-making timelines for An Bord Pleanála but, to be perfectly frank, I think we need to go further.

The Bill provides that if a decision is not made on an appeal for a regular planning application within an 18-week period, an coimisiún pleanála will have a further four weeks to make a decision. If it does not make a decision within a four-week period, it will have a further six-week period. If it does not make a decision within a six-week period, it will then have a further one-week period. I would like to consolidate that process in cases where it has not made a decision within an 18-week period. Rather than having an initial four-week period, we should look at having six weeks. If a decision is not made within six weeks, we should be say it needs to be made within a one-week period. We should shorten that period to a maximum of seven weeks, in addition to the 18-week period. This proposal is opposed to the 11-week period, which is provided for in the Bill as it as it currently stands. We can debate the pros and cons of that on Committee Stage. However, having certainty with timelines is so important.

I want to flag another issue that is also in that section.Also in that section, while I know the Minister of State will probably not respond to it today, I want to flag for Committee Stage the ability for an coimisiún pleanála to request of the applicant an extension of time for a decision on a planning application. Frankly, I am uncomfortable with it. I think there is a power imbalance between an coimisiún pleanála and the applicant, where the applicant may feel that he or she has to agree to an extension of the timeline or else he or she might not get a favourable decision. I ask, after Second Stage is completed, for that to be considered by the Department before it comes into us on Committee Stage.

I welcome the move towards urban development zones, UDZs, and the transition period from strategic development zones. We have a critical strategic development zone in Waterford city in the North Quays, which is being developed extensively as we speak. There are cranes and hundreds of workers are developing a transportation hub, a new bridge over the River Suir and new road infrastructure onto the site, which will pave the way for a private sector development of over €250 million in the first phase. That is a strategic development zone that is working. The whole purpose of the legislation is to take key regional areas and ask how we can simplify the planning process. The ability for other local authorities to extend that with urban development zones, in collaboration with our councillors, which is so important, and with the Department, is important and will enable a strategic view to be taken on land banks. One thing that was discussed during pre-legislative scrutiny at the committee and in discussions on other legislation is about when land banks are owned by several different parties, and having one overarching plan for that, regardless of who owns the site. The UDZ provisions in the Bill are welcome.

There was a good discussion about section 5 declarations. It is formerly section 5, because it will be section 9 in the current Bill. It is the ability to declare that this is an exempted development. It provides for regulations. The Minister of State might comment on whether it is the intention, particularly in the transition period and beyond, that those regulations that are currently in place for exempted development would be continued. As he knows, we have successfully introduced exemptions from planning for former public houses that are to be converted into up to ten residential units. It is an excellent measure that has been implemented. I want to make sure that consistency will remain in the regulations and secondary legislation that will follow this Bill.

Those are just a couple of the main points that I have been focusing on in this legislation. We will obviously debate them more on Committee Stage. I compliment the Minister of State, his officials and his teams on working with all of us in this Chamber and the other Chamber, as well as the joint committee, on this legislation. It is critical that we have a planning system that is fit for purpose in this country and which brings certainty and clarity to timelines for decisions. That will be the litmus test for this legislation. If we can achieve that and bring certainty about all elements of our planning system, from our local authorities to an coimisiún pleanála to judicial reviews, we will have succeeded, because it will address the frustration from all parties with regard to a lag in timelines and an indefinite period around decision-making that is not fit for purpose any more. That is what we are trying to rectify in this Bill. I commend it to the House.