Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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885.To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason elected county councillors are being blocked from attending pre-planning meetings with constituents by some local authorities; and if such a rule is written into legislation.[35768/24]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The undertaking of functions in relation to planning applications and pre-application meetings between a developer and a planning authority is an executive function exercisable by the Chief Executive, or a staff member to whom the function has been delegated.

A planning authority is required to undertake its functions in accordance with the open, transparent and verifiable written process set down in the planning legislation and, when undertaking its functions, is restricted to considering the proper planning and sustainable development of the area concerned.

Under section 247 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), only a person who “has an interest (including a lease granted under section 2 of the Act of 1933, of a part of the foreshore that consists of, or includes, the maritime site on which it is proposed to carry out the development concerned) in land" may request a pre-application consultation. The primary purpose of such a consultation is to identify any potential planning issues arising from a development proposal at a sufficiently early stage in the design process in order to avoid needless delays and/or costs. However, the carrying out of consultations cannot prejudice the performance by a planning authority of any other of its functions under the Planning Act or under ancillary regulations. The pre-application process set out under section 247 of the Act is between the planning authority and the prospective applicant. The Act also provides, that a record must be kept of a section 247 consultation and that the record should be associated with the planning application file, should an application be made subsequently.

In view of the purpose of pre-application consultations and in the interests of maintaining the integrity of the planning system, where it is proposed by a prospective developer that a third party attend a pre-application meeting under section 247 of the Act, it is a matter for the relevant planning authority to consider the appropriateness of that party to be in attendance. Therefore, it is for each planning authority to consider who should be in attendance at a pre-application meeting under section 247 of the Act on a case by case basis and is a function in which I, in my role as Minister with responsibility for planning have no statutory function.

Participation by the elected members with regard to an individual planning application is undertaken through the making of submissions and observations during the planning application process as prescribed under article 29 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended (the Regulations). Additionally, article 168(2)(aa) of the Regulations also provides that a member of a local authority acting in his or her capacity as such member, shall not be required to pay any fee when making a submission or observation on a planning application. This provides an opportunity for the elected members to comment on a planning application in their functional area free of charge in an open and transparent manner.