Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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128. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on concerns expressed by local authorities (details supplied) that councils are at risk of being sued by persons that were turned down for planning or persons that wanted to sell sites due to the application of locals only planning permission criteria. [22509/17]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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130. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on whether local needs criteria contained in a number of county development plans for the granting of planning permission for one-off dwellings in rural areas are compatible with Articles 43 and 56 of the EC Treaty. [22517/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 130 together.

Arising from a Judgment by the European Court of Justice on a related matter, my Department is currently engaged in consultations with planning authorities regarding potential modifications required to the 2005 Planning Guidelines on Sustainable Rural Housing, with a view to ensuring that rural housing policies and objectives contained in county development plans comply with Articles 43 (Freedom of Movement of People) and 56 (Freedom of Movement of Capital) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 

A Working Group, comprising officials from planning authorities and my Department, has been established to review and revise the guidelines and is due to hold its first meeting this month. The concerns referred to by the Deputy will be taken into account as part of the review. On conclusion of the review, my Department will be engaging with the European Commission on proposed changes to the Guidelines, with a view to issuing updated Guidelines to planning authorities on the matter in due course. In the interim, the existing Guidelines remain in effect.

When finalised, in the second half of 2017, the revised guidelines will be issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Under the provisions of the Act, planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála are required to have regard to guidelines issued under section 28 in the performance of their functions generally under the Planning Acts.