Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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781. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 150 of 30 March 2023, if he will outline in detail any changes to provisions in the draft Planning and Development Bill 2022 pertaining to public rights of way compared to the provisions in the current Planning and Development Act 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17086/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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There are no substantive changes to provisions in the draft Planning and Development Bill 2022 (the Bill) pertaining to public rights of way compared to the provisions in the current Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) (the Act of 2000).

Section 242 of the Bill restates section 206 of the Act of 2000 without substantive modification, which allows for public rights of way to be created by agreement. Section 243 of the Bill restates with some modifications section 207 of the Act of 2000 enabling the creation of public rights of way compulsorily. Section 243(11) of the Bill clarifies that the exercise of the power to create a public right of way pursuant to this section does not prevent any person (including the planning authority itself) from asserting that the route concerned was already subject to a public right of way, which may be relevant in measuring compensation. Section 244 of the Bill restates section 208 of the Act of 2000 without substantive modification.

The draft Planning and Development Bill 2022 was published in January and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage has undertaken a significant pre-legislative scrutiny process on it, over the past two months. I expect to receive their report shortly and will fully consider its recommendations, along with submissions on the Bill received from stakeholders, when preparing the final Bill. The final Bill, when published, will be accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum provide information on the provisions in the Bill and will highlight the rationale for any substantial changes made to the current Act. The Bill will then proceed before the Houses of the Oireachtas, subject to the Oireachtas schedule.