Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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This is about telecommunications masks in local communities. I thank Councillor Ted Leddy, who came across a telecommunications mast that is going up in Castleknock village. He found it by accident when searching for something else and is now supporting the local community.

There is major confusion among local communities about telecommunications masts. I am not absolutely clear on the parameters by which they are considered exempted development. There is conflicting information in the media when compared with my read of the regulations. There is confusion because there seems to be absolutely no public consultation even though these masts can be 15 m or 20 m high in prominent community locations. There is no site notice, advertisement in the newspaper or public submissions process. Even the local planning authorities do not seem to have a say anymore as An Bord Pleanála is overturning decisions. I will summarise some of the information I have and the Minister of State might clarify it for me.

Under the Planning and Development Act 2000 all development, unless specifically exempted under the Act or associated regulations, requires planning permission. When I look at the Act under section 4 it lists exempted development but I do not see a reference to telecommunications. Section 4(2)(a) states, "The Minister may by regulations provide for any class of development to be exempted development ..." and lays out certain conditions. Is telecommunications infrastructure covered by that? Under SI 600/2001 - Planning and Development Regulations, 2001, class 31 of Schedule 2 provides that certain classes of development carried out to provide a telecommunications service are subject to exempted development. Is this the relevant legislation? If so, I still do not understand what the conditions and size thresholds are. It refers to overhead equipment and states: "Poles carrying overhead lines shall not exceed 10 metres ...". A reply to a parliamentary question put by another Oireachtas Member stated, "The legislative provisions are supplemented by planning guidelines entitled the Telecommunications Antennae and Support Structure Guidelines, which originally issued to planning authorities in 1996". It further stated these were updated in 2012 with a circular letter.

The 1996 guidelines state, "The height of these structures, when the requirements of the backbone network are taken into account, can range from 12m to 60m though most typically they will be between 20m and 40m". Also under the guidelines, local authorities are required to have a policy where special conditions would apply or where, "... for various reasons, telecommunications installations would not be favoured ...". Such sites might include lands of high amenity value, protected structures or sites beside schools. However, the 2012 circular states:

While the policies above are reasonable, there has, however, been a growing trend for the insertion of development plan policies and objectives specifying minimum distances between telecommunications structures from houses and schools, e.g. up to 1km. Such distance requirements, without allowing for flexibility on a case-by-case basis, can make the identification of a site for new infrastructure very difficult. Planning authorities should therefore not include such separation distances as they can inadvertently have a major impact on the roll out of a viable and effective telecommunications network.

Is it therefore national policy the location of telecommunications masts are to be determined on a case-by-case basis under exempted development such that there is no public consultation for structures that can be up to 60 m high and that even when they are refused that can be overturned by An Bord Pleanála? Nobody could reasonably suggest telecommunications infrastructure is not of national and strategic importance but surely there must be some parameters on where it can go.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important matter around the thresholds within which telecommunications masts are not considered exempted development and require public consultation. On behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, who sends his apologies for being unable to be here today, I note the current exemptions from planning for telecommunications infrastructure and instances where planning permission is required is as follows. The Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, provides an exemption from the requirement for planning permission for certain telecommunications infrastructure under class 31 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the regulations. This allows for the deployment of specified telecommunications infrastructure by a statutory undertaker authorised to provide a telecommunications service without having to go through the planning process.

Where the proposed telecommunications infrastructure is not being installed by a statutory undertaker authorised to do so or where the size of the proposed infrastructure exceeds the limits set out in class 31 of the regulations, such as greater than 12 m in height for a telecommunications pole, full planning permission will be required.

In this connection, it should be noted that the exemptions from planning do not apply in certain circumstances. First, if the proposed location for the telecommunications infrastructure is in an area that requires an environmental impact assessment or an appropriate assessment to be undertaken before any works can commence, such as on a European designated site, the exemption under class 31 of the regulations is disapplied under section 4(4) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and planning permission for the proposed works must be sought.

Second, if the proposed location for the telecommunications infrastructure would materially affect the character of a "protected structure", or any element of the structure which contributes to its special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest, then the planning exemption under class 31 of the regulations is disapplied under section 57(1) of the Act, again with the result that planning permission must be sought before any works can commence.

Where proposed telecommunications infrastructure does not meet the requirements of the class 31 exemption, or where the exemption is disapplied because of the provisions of the Act, an application for planning permission must, as I have outlined, be made to the relevant planning authority in accordance with section 34 of the Act. The planning process prescribes a five-week period from the date of application for the making of submissions or observations by any person to the planning authority.

Following the decision of a planning authority under section 34 of the Act, an applicant for permission and any person who made submissions or observations in writing in terms of the planning application to the planning authority in accordance with the permission regulations, and on payment of the appropriate fee, may, within four weeks of the planning authority decision, appeal the decision to An Bord Pleanála in accordance with section 37 of the Act. The appeals process in An Bord Pleanála includes a four-week period for the making of submissions or observations by any person under section 129 of the Act. In addition, the board may, in its absolute discretion under section 134 of the Act, hold an oral hearing of an appeal.

Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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I will have to go through the reply in detail but I can tell the Minister of State that the telecommunications mast in Castleknock is 15 m and there is a mast in Glaslough which is 19 m, and featured in the latest edition of the Sunday Independent.These masts did not go through the planning process but were a section 254 application so the public did not know about them. The councils have said "No". The mast in Castleknock used a section 254 application, which was rejected by the local authority rejected and An Bord Pleanála overturned that so there is an issue. The telecommunications mast has been located in Castleknock in a prominent area with one of the highest footfall in the community. The local Tidy Towns committee has spent the last two years trying to reflect the beauty of this picturesque village, so the notion that a 15 m mast can be erected without public consultation or even an awareness by the public is very worrisome.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Currie for raising this important matter. Obviously I cannot speak about a specific case because it would be inappropriate for me to do so. What I can say is that where any person or body is unsure if planning is required for specific proposed telecommunications infrastructure they may, on payment of the prescribed fee, submit a request in writing to the relevant planning authority seeking a declaration under section 5 of the Act on whether the telecommunications infrastructure is or is not development, or is or is not exempted development within the meaning of the Act.These provisions and arrangements as outlined in the Act and in supplementary regulations are considered to be reasonable, balanced and proportionate in terms of enabling specified forms of development to proceed without having to undergo the full rigours of the planning system, while simultaneously ensuring that certain development proposals that exceed the exemption thresholds or which may have impacts on the environment or on protected structures are subject to assessment under the planning process and involve public consultation with the right of appeal before any such development proposals are authorised to be progressed.