The co-leader of the Social Democrats, Catherine Murphy, has said the Government's new planning legislation will result in the "last shreds of credibility" associated with An Bord Pleanála "going up in flames".
She told the Dáil that it was "dangerous and deluded" that Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien was introducing a "discredited system, done away with 40 years ago", in which he would appoint people to the Executive Board of An Bord Pleanála.
Deputy Murphy said the move amounted to "political interference", and she wondered if Fianna Fáil had forgotten about various Tribunal reports.
She contended that the draft Planning and Development Bill would turn An Bord Pleanála in the Minister's "play thing" and would effectively "take a sledgehammer" to its last vestiges of credibility.
The Social Democrats co-leader said the proposed changes to Judicial Review of planning cases would mean they would make it "as difficult and expensive as possible" for people to take a case.
In reply, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath said the Planning and Development Bill was draft legislation and would go through the normal process of scrutiny.
He said the Government wanted to ensure that the planning system was compliant with the Arhaus Convention, and EU law, but also facilitates the development that needs to happen.
The minister argued the alternative was to continue with a system in which everyone got "tied up in knots".
He said the legislation was "very balanced" would ensure that clarity and streamlining was at the heart of the planning process and improve its functioning.
Regarding Judicial Reviews, Minister McGrath asserted that the new timelines would improve the system and bring clarity over who can take a case - individuals rather than residents associations - "... in order to ensure proper legal capacity".
'I wouldn't have thought that Fianna Fáil needed reminding of why we need to remove any prospect of political interference from the planning system' @CathMurphyTD says@mmcgrathtd says the planning system needs to be overhauled and it must facilitate necessary development pic.twitter.com/xmshhAHNKP
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 14, 2022
Legislation provides 'planning-led' approach
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has also defended the proposed legislation.
"It's a very comprehensive piece of legislation which deals with the fundamental architecture of our planning system in terms of a new Planning Commission, which will replace Bord Pleanala," he said.
He said the legislation provided a "planning-led" approach, from local area plans to city and county plans to regional plans to the national planning framework.
He said the Bill was essential to Ireland meeting its binding climate targets.
"The Planning Act is essential if we are to meet our climate change agenda, if we are to fulfill the obligations that are contained in the draft Climate Action Plan, and also in terms of the housing area, because we do need to build houses faster, and at a higher level than we are although we will exceed targets this year," he added.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said we cannot afford to see new housing developments and wind farms being held up in planning processes for years.
Speaking at a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, Mr Varadkar said the proposed bill is not about taking away people's right to object or make observations, it is to make sure there are timely decisions.
Delays in the planning system
Director of Housing and Planning with the Construction Industry Federation Conor O'Connell said the outline of the bill on planning is welcome and feedback from CIF members is that the planning process has lengthened significantly in recent years.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said he does not see anything in the legislation that would prohibit anyone from going to the courts to object to a development.
"If we look at the number of homes that are now held up in either judicial review or in An Board Pleanála we're talking about approximately two years' worth of housing supply at current output levels.
"The delays in the system and the fragmentation of the planning system, the use of the courts and the legal system to delay the much-needed provisions of homes has considerably lengthened in recent times."
He rejected the suggestion that developers are "drip feeding" properties on to the market to keep rents and housing costs high, saying it is "utter nonsense".
He said "the problem is that from inception through to planning, right through to your connection process and your compliance process, post the planning granted, it can take years".
Mr O'Connell said that ultimately delays and costs associated with the judicial review process are borne by the purchasers of new homes.
Government proposals raise 'fundamental issues'
Senior ministers in the Green Party have said they are very concerned at plans by the housing minister to limit who can take legal action over planning decisions.
It is understood Ministers Catherine Martin and Roderic O'Gorman raised concerns over this at Cabinet.
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, Green Party TD for Wicklow and Party Spokesperson for Planning and Local Government, Steven Matthews, said there was still time to change the legislation.
"Not all Government is united that we need to streamline the planning system and we need to make it clearer," he said.
"We look forward to improving this piece of legislation and to iron out any complications or difficulties, in so that we maintain that public access, but we also have a planning system that creates legal certainty, timelines and has a fully resourced planning system that at local authority level and above, everyone has the knowledge to ensure that these decisions are made in a timely manner with full public participation."
He said as this bill was an early draft, it has to go through about eight weeks of pre-legislative scrutiny.
Meanwhile, Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan has expressed her concerns about changes to planning legislation relating to judicial reviews.
She said that the Green Party is mainly concerned about the Aarhus convention, which protects people's rights to access information, public participation and access to justice, particularly in environmental matters which does not make a differentiation between the individual and a group of individuals.
Ms Hourigan said that the party would like to see access to justice being as wide as possible, as Ireland has a good legacy of this where people are active participants in the planning process.
Environmental Law Officer for the Irish Environmental Network, Attracta Uí Bhroin said the concerns of the Green Party "are really welcome" as the proposals raise "very fundamental issues in relation to the compliance with international law obligations that Ireland has".
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she said these concerns relate to the rights of groups such as residents' associations or organisations that are concerned with health and air quality to bring a challenge to decisions.
"It's not just because they don't like the colour of the bricks, it's because there's a fundamental issue with the lawfulness of those decisions, and the fundamental problem is that we have had an exponential increase in the amount of decisions that have been found to be unlawful and the office of the planning regulator has highlighted this."
She said that anything that impinges upon the rights to be able to take a challenge would be a concern.
Ms Uí Bhroin said that the changes will actually cause more delays to building projects due to the complexity of judicial reviews for individuals.
She also said there are concerns around what she described as "radical changes to special rules that were introduced to protect people from prohibitive costs, which are legally required to be not prohibitively expensive".
The changes are in breach of European law and could be challenged, according to Ms Uí Bhroin.
She said that it is no surprise that the name of An Bord Pleanála is changing because it was respected "as the jewel in the crown at the apex of our planning system, you can write its obituary this week with the legislation that's been passed in the Oireachtas."
"It's a travesty," she concluded.
