Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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56. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider amendments to planning regulations that require the internal layout drawings of dwellings and other buildings to be publicly available; having these drawings kept purely for the use of the relevant planning authority in the interests of privacy and security of the property owners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37235/15]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Requirements for plans and drawings to accompany a planning application are specified in regulation 23(1) of the Planning & Development Regulations 2001, as amended . Plans of the internal floorspace areas of proposed structures are generally submitted to a level of detail to indicate proposed rooms, circulation areas, storage areas , access facilities, etc. together with their dimensions and intended uses. Such information can be significant in the assessment of the planning application with regard to the relevant Development Plan (for example, in relation to the protection of residential amenity for proposed new housing ), relevant Ministerial Guidelines (for example, in relation to Sustainable Urban Housing: Design Standards for New Apartments) and other statutory considerations.

Such information is submitted with planning applications regardless of the domestic, commercial or other nature of the proposed development . As reiterated in my Planning Policy Statement of January 2015, the planning process must operate in a fair, efficient and transparent fashion through the availability of accessible information in both the Development Plan making and the development management processes . This approach ensures that the public can engage effectively with the planning process and that rational and robust planning decisions are made in the interest of the common good. In this regard, the inclusion of internal floorspace details is considered necessary to ensure that this overall principle is implemented and adhered to in the planning application process.