Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 1394: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the European Commission arising from a complaint from a planning applicant in County Wicklow in respect of restrictions to property acquisitions and residency clauses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29749/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Government received a Letter of Formal Notice in June 2007 from the European Commission under Article 226 of the Treaty, seeking the observations of the Government on whether the "local needs" test contained in a number of County Development Plans for the granting of planning permission for one-off dwellings in rural areas is compatible with Articles 43 and 56 of the EC Treaty which guarantee respectively the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital.

My Department responded to the Commission's enquiry in September 2007 and presented a strong defence of our current rural planning policies and practices. The Department has been in contact with the Commission on a number of occasions since then including meeting with them in February of this year. The Department will be writing to planning authorities shortly providing up-to-date guidance on the matter.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 1395: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the reason he demanded amendments to be made to Mayo County Council's operational County Development Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29757/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Planning and Development Act 2000 sets out clearly the roles of local and central Government in the development plan process.

Under sections 9 and 10 of the Act, development plans are required to set out an overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and be consistent with national plans, policies or strategies deemed by the Minister to relate to proper planning and sustainable development. In accordance with Section 12 of the Act, as a statutory consultee on draft development plans, the Minister should assess the policies contained therein and outline to the relevant planning authority what changes, if any, are required to achieve these objectives. In practice, as part of this process, my Department seeks to give a clear indication to planning authorities of the areas where the draft plan might need to be strengthened. Ultimately, Section 31 of the Act provides that the Minister may direct a planning authority to amend its draft or adopted plan where these requirements are not adequately met.

My Department issued Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Development Plans in June 2007 which sets out best practice in relation to the making, amendment and variation of development plans. These guidelines were issued under section 28 of the Act which requires planning authorities to have regard to them in the performance of their functions.

The Mayo County Development Plan 2008-2014 was adopted by the Council on 6 May 2008, following public consultation at draft and material amendment stages. At both stages, my Department expressed serious concerns that the draft county settlement strategy did not accord adequate priority to the development of residentially zoned lands in the National Spatial Strategy linked hub of Castlebar-Ballina and that the rural settlement policy framework as proposed in the amended draft plan did not set out a proper strategy for the management of housing proposals in rural areas as recommended in the 2005 Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines for Planning Authorities.

The Council did not address these concerns and in order to ensure the proper planning and sustainable development of the area, I issued a Direction to the Council on 11 July 2008 under section 31 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 requiring the Council to vary their Plan.