Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the nature and detail of the relationship between existing regional planning frameworks and guidelines and the new national planning framework; and if existing regional plans will have to have regard to the national planning framework and thus could be altered by the Office of the Planning Regulator if they are not deemed to be in line with the new national plan if the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016 is passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas. [8513/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Planning Framework, titled Ireland 2040 - Our Plan, will set a new strategic planning and development framework for the co-ordination of a range of national, regional and local authority policies and activities, planning and investment including new Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSES) to be prepared by the three Regional Assemblies established under the Local Government Act 2014 and which strategies will succeed the current Regional Planning Guidelines prepared by the now defunct Regional Authorities which the Assemblies have replaced. Until such time as both the NPF and the RSESs are adopted later in 2017 and 2018, respectively, the existing National Spatial Strategy and existing Regional Planning Guidelines will remain in place.

The RSESs will support the implementation of the NPF and the economic policies and objectives of the Government by providing a long-term planning and economic development framework to guide action at local government level such as the statutory development plan process and the Local Economic and Community Plans also provided for under the Local Government Act 2014.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016 (currently at Committee Stage) provides for the establishment of the Office of the Planning Regulator, which will be a prescribed body for the purposes of the preparation of future Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies. Under the proposed legislation above, the OPR, in addition to making observations on the RSES preparation process to the Assembly concerned, would also be empowered, where breaches of legislative and national policy requirements arise, to make recommendations to the Minister in relation to the use of the Minister’s existing powers under Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to direct the relevant Assembly on the content of its Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy, thereby ensuring policy alignment between all tiers of the statutory plan making processes at national, regional and local levels. As the power to issue a direction would continue to be vested with the Minister, any decision on whether or not to issue would ultimately remain with him.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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270. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if the national planning framework consultations will feed into the mid-term review of the 2016-20 capital plan; if the mid-term review of the plan will wait until the new national planning framework is finalised to be undertaken; if not, his views on whether large infrastructure projects, such as the M20 motorway or proposed metro north, will be planned for progression without regard to the master national planning framework; and his further views on whether this would mean that the national planning framework and the existing capital plan will not be joined up and will suffer from the same mistake as has been levelled at the national spatial strategy and the national development plans in previous periods. [8514/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The initial public consultation phase of the National Planning Framework process is underway until 16 March next.  The NPF will be a high level, long term spatial framework that will cover the period to 2040.  The output of the consultation phase, together with consideration of the full Census 2016 results in April, will feed into a draft National Planning Framework document, to be published prior to the Summer.

As the Deputy will be aware, the current NPF consultation phase is running in tandem with the commencement of a mid-term review of the Government’s Capital Plan to 2021. On the basis of the initial public consultation, a draft NPF will be prepared and it is my Department’s intention to develop this draft in sufficient time that it will be available to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to input into the mid-term review of the Capital Plan. My Department is liaising closely with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in co-ordinating the preparations for both the National Planning Framework and the Capital Review.

In relation to specific individual projects for consideration under the Capital Plan review, it also needs to be borne in mind that many of these projects have been proposed for some years and can be considered by reference to the existing planning frameworks such as the National Spatial Strategy and Regional Planning Guidelines.

However, recognising the long lead-in times for major infrastructure delivery, my Department understands that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform intends to develop a longer term perspective on infrastructure requirements beyond the mid-term review of the Capital Plan to 2021 and the development of both the National Planning Framework and Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies will put in place planning and economic development frameworks as a very clear context for such long-run capital investment decision making.

In this context, the Taoiseach, in his recent address to the Institute of European Affairs, 'Ireland at the heart of a changing European Union,' reaffirmed that the new National Planning Framework for spatial planning due to be finalised later this year will be complemented with a long-term (i.e. 10 year) capital plan.

Therefore, I am confident that the Government is well positioned to ensure an effective plan-led approach to infrastructure delivery that will meet our country’s needs over the decades ahead.