Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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273. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the actions he is taking in the short and medium-term to support the night-time economy through the creation and protection of cultural spaces through clearer planning definitions, promote creative partnership models to activate vacant properties, encourage regular engagement between the cultural, nightlife, and development sectors and ensure that planning and urban policy includes a protect and create principle to sustain cultural vibrancy and quality of life (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34872/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department participates in the Night Time Economy (NTE) Implementation Group, which is led by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (DCCS), and is currently leading on Action 6 of the Night Time Economy Strategy to “examine the practical implications for planning and other legislative codes to enable the potential for vacant buildings to be used for meanwhile use”, with the aim of providing more accessibility for NTE activity in vacant spaces.

To progress this action, my Department has undertaken a range of consultations with key stakeholders to examine the issues, including potential changes to planning and other legislation, associated with ‘meanwhile use’, which refers to the temporary use of vacant premises, for example, while awaiting a longer term development or commercial tenancy. This included a planning workshop co-hosted with DCCS, sector representative groups, local government and Government Departments.

The output of this work will feed into the wider current review of the Planning and Development – Exempted Development Regulations which is currently underway to support as part of the phased implementation of the Planning and Development Act, 2024.

While the Planning and Development Act 2024 (Act of 2024) was enacted in October 2024, it is in the process of being commenced. The provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (Act of 2000), and associated Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (Regulations of 2001) remain in force until the relevant sections of the Act of 2024 are commenced and the corresponding sections of the Act of 2000 are repealed, later this year.

A review of the current Exempted Development Regulations is ongoing, and having recently engaged with Government Bodies, a wider public consultation on the exempted development regulations will be undertaken shortly. Members of the public, State bodies and other concerned parties will be able to make submissions in writing as part of the consultation process, to commence in the coming weeks.

The Government cannot pre-empt the outcome of any consultation and therefore no decision has been made in respect of any revisions to current exempted development provisions. Any update to Exempted Development Regulations will require positive resolutions by both Houses of the Oireachtas before it can be signed into law.

In relation to planning and urban policy, my Department has published two sets of statutory planning guidelines, adopted under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, which recognise the role of the NTE as an active element of planning for sustainable communities and urban revitalisation and provide guidance to facilitate a complementary mix of day time and night time uses to generate activity within urban centres.

The ‘Development Plans Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ (July 2022) promote consistency in integrating development and zoning objectives in city or county development plans, which provide the policy framework for decision making on individual planning proposals in the development management process. These Guidelines highlight best practice by Dublin City Council in undertaking a Cultural Infrastructure Audit as part of the preparation of the Dublin City Development Plan 2022-2028 to provide an evidence base to inform planning for culture in the city, and recommend that development plans include an objective for the preparation of a ‘Community, Social and Cultural Infrastructure Audit’ to identify existing assets and determine the need for new arts and cultural facilities within their administrative area.

In addition, the ‘Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ (January 2024) state that planning authorities should plan for a diverse range of uses including cultural uses and for the adaption and re-use of the existing building stock and activation of outdoor spaces in city and town centres.