Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

For the record, somebody who is sitting in the Chair should not interrupt a Senator mid-flow to welcome somebody to the Visitors Gallery. I want to be clear on that. It is not a fair thing to do. The Chair can wait until the Member finishes his or her contribution and then do it. I thought it was very disrespectful to Senator Seery Kearney, when she was in the middle of speaking, to be interrupted mid-flow for that.

I am going to raise a couple of issues and speak to our amendment relating to the obligation to prepare a housing development strategy where the planning authority's functional area consists solely of a city. One of the key reforms that is lacking in the Bill relates to the CPO process, which is one of the most difficult functions that local authorities have to contend with. Acquiring derelict properties by CPO can be very complicated. Sometimes I think that when we talk about dereliction, people have a misunderstanding that local authorities can just go in and take what is there. The CPO process is overly cumbersome. If this planning Bill is passed, as it will be, can we at another stage look specifically at the CPO process within the context of the development plan? It is one aspect that prevents local authorities from actively managing towns and villages away from dereliction. With our amendment, therefore, we are seeking that the provision relating to vacant units be changed from "could be" to "could appropriately be". I would like to hear an update on the CPO process and other moves that might be made to change and reform it.

This section deals with the obligation on local authorities to prepare strategies. In that context, the climate change Act underpins the national planning framework. They have to interact with each other.This is a very small issue but it has a big impact in that in many places bike bunker storage, particular within small, dense urban areas requires and has been turned down for planning permission. It was raised with me in Ballintemple in Cork city. I see it has happened in Clontarf. We have huge difficulties in getting bike bunker storage. If I park my car, I can take up public space with my car outside of my house. I cannot take up that public space with bike bunker storage. I have both a car and a cargo bike. My car is absolutely fine to leave outside and it will take up that public space but my cargo bike cannot take up that public space. We need to make sure we are, through planning, allowing for active travel and the facilities and infrastructure that will facilitate that.

I will come back to the issue of interpretation of the OPR of the national planning framework and the marine planning framework. It relates to section 53 ,which covers "Consultation with [the] ... [the] Planning Regulator before preparation of draft development plan". We need to look at the accountability of the OPR to local authorities and to the interpretation of those development plans and how they interact with each other. Taking the national planning framework, no real work has been done. In Scotland, for example, regional planning frameworks have to be prepared within its 11 marine planning networks. We do not have anything like that with our national planning framework. It is very young and only setting off. The OPR should be interpreting both the national planning framework and the marine planning framework. That will impact on local authorities along the costs where DMAPs are being prepared, for example in Galway, Waterford, Wexford, Cork, Kerry. I would like to have on the record how that would work in terms of the marine planning framework, the national planning framework, the interpretation of the OPR of that, and how the operation of that will work.