Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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115. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if there are any circumstances in which a late appeal will be accepted by An Bord Pleanála; if the time limit for appeals will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23649/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Appeals to An Bord Pleanála are made under section 37 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act). An applicant for permission and any person who made submissions or observations in writing in relation to the planning application to the planning authority in accordance with the permission regulations and on payment of the appropriate fee, may, at any time before the expiration of the appropriate period, appeal to the Board against a decision of a planning authority made under section 34 of the Act. Section 37(1)(d) states that “the appropriate period” means the period of four weeks beginning on the day of the decision of the planning authority. Section 37(3) states that an appeal received by the Board after the expiration of the appropriate period (4 weeks) shall be invalid as not having been made in time. In effect, there is no provision for the acceptance of late appeals by the Board for any reason outside the appropriate period mentioned.

Housing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland sets out a number of objectives with the aim of improving the functioning of the planning system including the comprehensive review and consolidation of planning legislation. This review is being led by the Attorney General and he has established a working group of professionals with planning law expertise to assist him in this work. All provisions of the Act will be examined in the context of this review, which is due to be finalised by September 2022 to allow any updated legislation to be enacted by December 2022.

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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116. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the planning requirements that are in place in terms of solar farm development with respect to environmental impact studies and environmental impact assessments; if such studies are required for the granting of planning permission for solar or wind farms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23712/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive specifies projects which, by virtue of their nature, size or location are likely to have significant effects on the environment and should be subject to EIA. The Directive requires projects listed in Annex I of the Directive to be subject to mandatory EIA and provides that Member States may determine whether projects listed in Annex II of the Directive shall be subject to EIA. Solar farm developments are not listed in either Annex I or II of the EIA Directive.

Projects requiring an EIA by a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála (the Board), as appropriate, in respect of an application for planning consent are listed in Part 1 and Part 2 of Schedule 5 of the Planning and Developments Regulations 2001 (the Regulations), which transpose the list of projects in Annex I and II of the EIA Directive into planning legislation.

Proposals for individual renewable energy development projects may be subject to EIA as part of the planning process. Part 2 of Schedule 5 of the Regulations includes certain renewable energy development projects, such as wind energy and, in accordance with the Directive, certain thresholds have been set below which certain developments need not necessarily be subject to EIA. EIA is also required in the consideration of planning applications, other than in the circumstances referred to above, where a development that is under the threshold in Part 2 of Schedule 5 of the Regulations (sub-threshold development) is likely to have significant effects on the environment, having regard to the criteria set out in Schedule 7 of the Regulations. Schedule 7 criteria include assessment of the characteristics of the proposed sub-threshold development having regard to its size, its cumulation with other development, pollution and nuisances, and the risk of accidents as well as the location of the proposed development having regard to the existing land use, the environmental sensitivity of the geographical area and the absorption capacity of the natural environment in the area of the proposed development.

Two High Court judgments issued on separate judicial review cases in 2020, provide further clarification on the scope of the EIA Directive as it applies to solar farm developments. The judicial review case references are as follows:

1. Sweetman v. An Bord Pleanála & Ors [2020] IEHC 39 Judgment delivered by Mr. Justice McDonald on 31 January 2020

2. Kavanagh v. An Bord Pleanála & Ors [2020] IEHC 259 Judgment delivered by Mr. Justice O’Moore on 29 May 2020

The implications of the two judgments are of significance in that they affirm the understanding that solar farm developments of the nature of those the subject matter of these judicial reviews do not fall within the classes of projects in either Part 1 or Part 2 of Schedule 5 to Regulations that transpose the Annex I and II of the Directive.

However, it is not necessarily the case that solar farm projects could never require EIA. Circumstances may arise in which a solar farm project may be subject to a requirement for EIA if, for example, one or more aspects of the project potentially comes within the scope of any of the project classes listed in Annex I or Annex II of the Directive and consequently, Part 1 and Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the Regulations, also noting the criteria for sub-threshold development as set out in Schedule 7 of the Regulations.

It would be a matter for a Planning Authority or An Bord Pleanála to assess a planning application for a solar farm development in accordance with the requirements of the EIA Directive, as transposed in the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Regulations, and to determine if an EIA is required or not.