Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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317. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if plans are in place to extend planning permission due to delays arising from Covid-19 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41871/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Section 42 of Planning and Development Act 2000 ('the Act') currently enables the holder of a planning permission to apply to a planning authority for an extension to the period of permission by an additional period not exceeding 5 years.

At present, if an extension to planning permission has been previously granted, the holder of a planning permission may be granted a further extension of duration under section 42(1A) of the Act in respect of a development that relates to 20 or more houses, where substantial works have been carried out, subject to the development being completed within 5 years of the originally extended permission or by 31 December 2021 (as extended in 2020 by Government Orders under Section 251A of the Act), whichever first occurs.

Section 7 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2021 ('the 2021 Act'), which was commenced on 9 September 2021, provides a temporary provision allowing for applications for further extensions of planning permissions which have already availed of an extension under section 42 of the Act, or otherwise under section 42(1A), and in circumstances where no further extension is permissible.

Where an application is made to a planning authority for a further extension, pursuant to the 2021 Act amendments, setting out the reasons why a development cannot be reasonably completed within the appropriate period as already extended, the planning authority shall further extend that period by an additional period of up to 2 years or until 31 December 2023, whichever first occurs, subject to the planning authority being satisfied of a number of matters, including that the development has commenced, substantial works have been carried out and that the extension is required to enable the development to be completed. This is subject also to the planning authority being satisfied that environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment would not be required for the proposed extension of the appropriate period.