Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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257. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to review and streamline the planning process across councils and to reduce the cost involved and the necessity for various drawings, photomontages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36214/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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My Department placed a public advertisement on 31 January 2014 stating that it was intended to review and update the Development Management Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2007 and that as part of that process, the Department would consider, in relation to the planning application process, whether changes should be made in order to improve the efficiency of the process while continuing to provide for appropriate and necessary public participation and environmental assessment. It was also stated that the Department will also consider whether further changes should be made to the exempted development provisions of the Regulations, specifically whether it is appropriate to exempt further development from the requirement to obtain planning permission.

Approximately 65, generally detailed, submissions were received and these are being considered in my Department. Any person or body who did not make a submission may still do so.

Also the High Level Group on Business Regulation, which comes under the remit of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation has set up a Planning Sub-Group, representative of both Government Departments, business interests and professional planning agents/planners. The Sub-Group, which held its first meeting recently, intends to make recommendations for any appropriate amendments to improve the planning application process.

My Department has decided to deal firstly with the matter of the exemption of further development from the requirement to obtain permission, and it is intended to bring Regulations on this matter to the Oireachtas, as required by section 262 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, in early 2015.

Following that, it is intended to give legislative effect to any recommendations for the streamlining of the planning application process, which might arise from my Department’s consideration of the submissions referred to above, and the input of the Planning Sub-Group of the High Level Group on Business Regulation.