Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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35. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if community buildings will be included in the changes to planning rules making it easier to install solar panels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32885/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Under the Planning and Development Act, 2000, as amended (the Act), all development, unless specifically exempted under the Act or associated Regulations, requires planning permission. Section 4 of the Act and Schedule 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended (the Regulations), set out various exemptions from the requirement to obtain planning permission. Any such exemptions are subject to compliance with any general restrictions on exemptions set out in the Act or the Regulations and to the specific conditions set out in each class of exempted development in Schedule 2 of the Regulations. Included in the planning exemptions set out in the Regulations are those applying to the installation of solar infrastructure on a variety of building types, including houses, businesses, industrial and agricultural to which specific conditions are attached.

My Department, in the context of the Climate Action Plan and in consultation with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, has undertaken a review of the solar panel planning exemptions set out in the Regulations, with a particular focus on facilitating increased self-generation of electricity. This review is now complete. Substantial changes to the current planning exemption thresholds for solar panels are proposed, as well as the introduction of new classes of solar panel planning exemptions for community/educational/religious buildings and apartments.

The draft regulations have been reviewed under the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive and it has been determined that they are likely to have significant effects on the environment, necessitating the undertaking of a full SEA on the draft proposals. The draft regulations have also been screened for Appropriate Assessment (AA) under the Habitats Directive by my Department’s Ecological Assessment Unit (EAU) and the need for AA has been screened out.

A public consultation on the draft solar regulations as part of the SEA process was launched on 15 June 2022. The consultation will run until 13 July 2022. Further information in relation to the consultation, including the full suite of documentation such as the SEA Environmental Report and details regarding how to make a submission, is available on the Department’s website at the following: www.gov.ie/en/consultation/3813e-public-consultation-on-the-draft-planning-and-development-act-2000-exempted-development-no-3-regulations-2022-and-the-draft-planning-and-development-solar-safeguarding-zone-regulations-2022-solar-exemptions/. Written submissions or observations will be taken into consideration before the finalisation of the draft regulations.

As required under planning legislation, the proposed exempted development regulations must be laid in draft form before the Houses of the Oireachtas and receive a positive resolution from both Houses before they can be made and the SEA process concluded. Accordingly, the process for finalising the solar panel planning exemptions will be completed in the coming months.