Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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252. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will introduce the submission of planning applications and comments electronically by e-mail with reference to changes to the planning process (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17169/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016, which was published in January 2016 and is currently on the Dáil Order Paper awaiting Second Stage, proposes to amend section 33 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to provide that the Minister may , subsequent to the enactment of the Bill, make regulations to facilitate the on-line submission of planning applications and appeals, including relevant fees, by electronic means (referred to as e-planning) to planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála respectively. The Bill further proposes that decisions in relation to planning applications and appeals may also be dealt with by planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála respectively by electronic means.

These proposals are amongst a broad package of measures currently being developed by my Department to facilitate the streamlining of the planning process, to bring it up to date technologically, and to make it more administratively efficient. I would be anxious to make the necessary regulations in this regard at an early date, following enactment of the Bill.