Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson and the Minister of State. I will speak to some of the amendments in the grouping. I will do so backwards if that is okay. First, I will speak to amendment No. 112, which seeks, in page 74, to delete lines 34 to 36 and to provide a substitution. That essentially means that any guidelines that are currently there under the Act, except ones that are specifically repealed, remain in place until they have been repealed and replaced. A concern has been raised by some of the outside groups, in particular, IBEC, that the guidelines will lead to a lack of continuity in guidelines and a lack of clarity in the interim period. We ask the Minister of State for a mechanism such as that to be put into the Bill in order for there to be clarity between current guidelines under the 2000 Act and the guidelines which will come into existence under the new planning Act.

I wish to speak to amendments Nos. 88 and 85 because Senator Higgins outlined very clearly how crucial this section is, as well as how crucial both the national planning framework and the national planning statement are in particular. One of my concerns throughout this Act is the things which have a massive impact. While I am very much in favour of a plan-led approach to planning and giving certainty to people in local areas, developers and planners, they have to be adequately discussed. There must be adequate consultation, accountability and democratic control of it, especially in the context of the national planning statement and how that fleshes out the national planning framework that is there. This goes back to the debate we had yesterday about the Planning Regulator. How the Planning Regulator interprets this is fundamental to how our daily planning system works. These are two simple amendments but they make sure ministerial approval is required for the national planning statement discussed in this House. It is one of the things of which we have not had adequate oversight.

Often, a circular, guidelines or a planning statement published by the Department is taken as a bible by local authorities. However, there has not been adequate consultation or feedback from people within local communities when it comes to the national planning statement. This is an essential part of our planning system as we move to a more plan-led approach. The amendments are simple but impactful. It gives Oireachtas oversight of the national planning statement.

We are taking several amendments on this Stage; the Government amendments have gone through and it is going back to the Dáil. Before we come to the final publication of this Bill and before it becomes an Act, it is crucial we have a system and oversight in place for planning statements, the national planning framework and ministerial guidelines. These will have a significant impact on the day-to-day working of the planning system. What is density and how that is calculated will provide certainty. Every single day in this House we have people coming in from rural areas. The Minister of State and I probably have very similar viewpoints on one-off rural housing and ribbon development. However, we have people coming in and saying individuals cannot get planning permission on their own land because of the national planning statement and that this is disgraceful. While I happen to disagree with them, people have the right to get clarity on this before they go for planning permission. That is essential. This is particularly important for the national planning statement and ministerial guidelines and how they feed into it.

If the amendments of the Opposition are not being accepted by the Minister of State today, as they do not seem to be, I ask that between now and enactment of the Bill work be done on how we are going to have proper public participation in formulating the plan for a plan-led approach that is envisaged under this Bill.