Further delay to Bill seen as ‘largest overhaul’ of State’s planning system in decades

Legislation expected to bring about the “largest overhaul” of the State’s planning system in decades has been delayed, with the Bill now not due before the Oireachtas until September.

Coalition sources said that the slow progress of the Bill had left Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin “frustrated”, with Attorney General Rossa Fanning informing the Cabinet last month that it would not be ready to return to the Dáil before its summer recess.

The Government had originally hoped the Planning and Development Bill would be on the statute books before Easter. However, the Bill underwent a lengthy pre-legislative scrutiny process which only concluded in April. A revised target of having it moved through the Oireachtas before the middle of this month has now fallen by the wayside.

A report on the legislation produced by the Oireachtas housing committee made some 150 recommendations, which are being considered by the Department of Housing, a spokeswoman for Minister Darragh O’Brien said.

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“Throughout the pre-legislative scrutiny process the importance of taking the time required to get the Bill right was emphasised. It is intended that the Bill will be before the Oireachtas in September and envisaged that it will be enacted this year pending its progression through the Houses of the Oireachtas.”

She said the Bill will “represent the largest overhaul of the legal framework for planning in two decades and will be one of the biggest pieces of legislation ever to have been undertaken by the State”.

Mr O’Brien has placed a significant emphasis on overhauling planning legislation, but the draft law has proven politically controversial since its introduction. It caused divisions at Cabinet when Green Party Ministers raised concerns over the risk of people having their rights to legally challenge planning decisions through the courts, known as judicial review, curtailed.

When it was published in January a draft Bill was criticised by environment groups, who claimed it was not compliant with Ireland’s obligations on public participation in decision-making contained in the UN’s Aarhaus Convention. They also predicted it would be challenged in the courts, potentially leading to years of delay. There were concerns at backbench level too, with Green Party rebels Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello among those raising issues.

The Government is facing competing pressures on planning reform. Laois-Offaly TD Barry Cowen received the support of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party last Wednesday for a Bill he has written that would introduce some reforms while legislative work on wider measures is completed. His legislation would force An Bord Pleanála to give decisions within a fixed time frame, and Mr Cowen said projects in the energy and housing sectors would benefit from it.

He is seeking Government support for his Private Members Bill, saying that “while a much bigger and important planning Bill is coming it will take many more months given its scale. This Bill is short, to the point and addresses the time delays that are affecting and have affected so many key projects, especially in energy.”