Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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1328. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to make changes to the planning regulations to allow persons have a greater input into the planning process (details supplied) [46438/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Public participation is a long established and crucial element of all substantive decision-making processes under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended. In this regard, the 2001 Regulations require an applicant for planning permission to give public notice of a planning application on site and in a newspaper approved for the purpose, advising where the application and accompanying documents may be viewed and a copy purchased, and that submissions and observations on the application may be made to the planning authority concerned within a specified period.

Under article 35 of the 2001 Regulations, where a planning authority receives further information, revised plans etc in relation to a planning application that the authority considers contain significant additional data, including information in relation to effects on the environment, the applicant must give public notice of the significant further information by similar means and in similar terms to the public notice of the original application. Prescribed bodies and persons who made submissions or observations on the original application must also be notified of the significant further information received and given the opportunity to make further submissions on the application to the authority.

When making its decision on a planning application, the planning authority must have regard to any submissions or observations received in relation to the original application as well as any further significant information received.

Furthermore, any person who made a submission on a planning application to a planning authority may appeal the planning authority’s decision to An Bord Pleanála or may make a submission to the Board in relation to an appeal of that decision.

I am satisfied that the current arrangements for the consideration of planning applications allow for extensive public participation in the decision-making process and I have no proposals to amend the legislation in this regard.