Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1462. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to state whether a strategic environmental assessment and-or screening for a strategic environmental assessment and-or an appropriate assessment was carried on the planning design standards for apartments guidelines for planning authorities, 2025, prior to the publication of the guidelines. [41487/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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A review of the Planning Design Standards for Apartments, Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2025, was undertaken which concluded the requirements for application of the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process was not met, as the Guidelines do not establish the framework for consent for apartment projects which may be subject to environmental impact assessment (EIA) and they also do not fall under the categories of plans or programmes which would be subject to SEA screening under the Directive.

With regard to appropriate assessment (AA), the Apartment Guidelines are considered to be outside of the definition of a plan for the purposes of Article 6(3) of the EU Habitats Directive, and therefore Article 6(3) is not considered applicable to the Guidelines. In this context a screening for SEA or AA, or SEA or AA, was not carried out in respect of the corresponding legislative provisions.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1463. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to state whether a strategic environmental assessment and-or screening for a strategic environmental assessment and-or an appropriate assessment was carried out on Seanad amendment No. 24 to the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025, amending Part III of the Act of 2000, to provide for modification of permission for residential development by inserting a new section 44B into the principal Act, and related amendments to the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2024. [41488/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Section 29 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2025 (Act of 2025) provides for an amendment to Part III of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Act of 2000) by inserting a new section 44B allowing for the modification of a permission for residential development in specific circumstances.

Section 44B will provide for a certification procedure for modifications to a planning permission for an apartment development, where those modifications are in line with certain Specific Planning Policy Requirements contained in the recently published Planning Design Standards for Apartments, Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2025. Section 44B is a temporary measure and an application for proposed modifications must be made within 2 years of the enactment of the Act of 2025. As set out under subsection (14) of section 44B, its purpose is to encourage and facilitate the expedited construction of greater numbers of dwellings in apartment schemes in comparison to those permitted under permissions already granted.

Section 44B allows the Minister to make regulations for the purposes of that section and provides for a number of matters to be prescribed. Such matters include procedural and administrative provisions to support the operation of section 44B and the preparation of these regulations is already underway. It should be noted that section 44B(5)(b) provides that certificates may not be issued if an appropriate assessment (AA) or environmental impact assessment (EIA) in relation to a proposed modification is required and accordingly, corresponding regulations will include provisions relating to screening for AA and EIA of proposed modifications. A Commencement Order will also be required to bring section 44B into operation.

A review of the Planning Design Standards for Apartments, Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2025, was undertaken which concluded the requirements for application of the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process was not met, as the Guidelines do not establish the framework for consent for apartment projects which may be subject to EIA and they also do not fall under the categories of plans or programmes which would be subject to SEA screening under the Directive. With regard to AA, the Apartment Guidelines are considered to be outside of the definition of a plan for the purposes of Article 6(3) of the EU Habitats Directive, and therefore Article 6(3) is not considered applicable to the Guidelines. In this context. a screening for SEA or AA, or SEA or AA, was not carried out in respect of the corresponding legislative provisions.