Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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237. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will request local authorities to make documentation in respect of planning applications available online in a timely fashion; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Dublin City Council considers this a courtesy service thus resulting in documents being made available late; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2214/18]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Under current planning legislation, namely the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the 2000 Act) and the Planning and Development Regulations 2001-2017, the processing of planning applications is based primarily on physical documents.  While planning authorities endeavour to upload on-line as soon as possible the principal planning documents that are required to be made available in hard copy for public inspection and purchase, there is no statutory requirement for them to do so.

Amendments to the 2000 Act to facilitate the introduction of eplanning (electronic planning) across the local authority sector and in An Bord Pleanála have been incorporated in the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016, which is progressing through the Oireachtas (currently at Dáil Report Stage). When enacted and supplemented by necessary supporting regulations, this will allow the making available on-line of planning applications and appeals and submissions in relation to them, and also the on-line payment of associated fees.  In this context, the aim will be to ensure that planning documents are made available on-line at the same time as they are made available for viewing in hard copy by members of the public.