Government under fire for rushing through planning law with limited time for debate
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Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien and the Government have come under fire for rushing through legislation that could have a major impact on people’s ability to challenge planning decisions.
A raft of amendments to a planning bill going through the Oireachtas was published late last week and practically no time was given for scrutiny before a vote is taken tomorrow in an effort to get the bill passed before the end of the Dáil term.
Among the amendments are a number concerning access to the courts to challenge planning decisions.
The original bill, which is concerned with substitute consent — a form of retention planning for large infrastructure — was 18 pages but the last-minute amendments introduced by the Department of Housing run to nearly 50 pages.
The amendments focus on areas such as access to the courts, short-term letting, and valuations, which are all completely separate from the original premise for the bill.
Among the raft of amendments is one that allows a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála to adjust its ruling if an error in law or fact is found in the course of a legal challenge, and “the amended decision shall be taken to be the decision of the planning authority, local authority or board, as the case may be”.
Planning law solicitor Fred Logue said the proposal was effectively moving the goalposts for anybody who legally challenges a planning decision.
“Under European law, the system has to be fair, equitable, and not prohibitively expensive,” Mr Logue said. “It’s basically unfair if you spend money on a judicial review and then the goalposts are moved and you’re left challenging a fundamentally different decision.
"And there is no procedure in how this is done.”
Social Democrats housing spokesman Cian O’Callaghan said the two and half hours set aside tomorrow to debate the amendments was simply not workable.
“We won’t get through the amendments,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
“Two and a half hours of Dáil time has been set aside for tomorrow to debate amendments to the original bill, along with the 50 pages of amendments published at the last minute.
“They bring it in right at the end so there’s no time for scrutiny or debate.
“This is being done when we don’t even know the outcome of investigations into An Bord Pleanála and it involves the courts, which is a safeguard for the public.
“Trying to limit and shut down debate on that is problematic.”
Sinn Fein housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said the amendments were being pushed through without scrutiny despite there being no urgency about the specific issues.
“Planning has become so complex that there is a need to have these issues thought through and I am not convinced that the minister or the Attorney General have given any time or scrutiny to what they are doing,” said Mr Ó Broin.
The controversy follows on from the curtailing of debate on legislation to deal with compensation for the defective block scheme, which went through the Oireachtas last week.