Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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240. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will report on any instances in 2021 or 2022 where the Office of the Planning Regulator identified an issue with a local authority or regional assembly statutory plan, including county and city development plans, local area plans and RSESs; if he will identify the grounds of the appeals and if they were resolved in tabular form. [61546/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Since the establishment of the Office of the Planning Regulator (the Office) in April 2019, the Office has had responsibility for the evaluation of the making or varying of county and city development plans, local area plans and RSESs. The evaluation process is an independent function of the Office.  As such, my Department would not hold comprehensive records of all issues referred to or to comprehensive records regarding the Office’s appeals process.

While it is my role as Minister to form an opinion as to whether to issue a direction further to a recommendation of the Office, the majority of issues raised by the Office in respect of local authority development plans, local area plans or Regional Assembly RSESs are addressed and resolved as part of the process, prior to the final direction stage.

It is also noted that arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost-effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for the Office of the Planning Regulator is oireachtas@opr.ie.