The controversial Planning and Development Bill, that provoked the ire of a Hollywood star as well as that of virtually the entire Opposition, has been passed in the Dáil by 72 votes to 60 after a contentious final three-hour debate.
The mammoth Bill, which ran to over 730 pages when initiated in 2021, returned to the lower House with more than 617 Seanad amendments, with less than 50 considered before the legislation was guillotined.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien described it as the most significant reform in planning legislation since 2000. He said it was urgently needed, and would make the planning system more “transparent”. The Minister rejected as “utterly incorrect” persistent Opposition claims that the Bill was rushed and said there had been more than 115 hours of debate at committee.
Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin said the Bill “is without doubt the single worst piece of planning legislation in the history of the State and the most controversial and damaging piece of legislation that I have seen in my time in the Oireachtas”.
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The Bill is a key Government measure and part of efforts to solve the housing crisis. Its reforms aim to speed up delivery of housing and remove blockages in the planning system that can also delay renewable energy and transport infrastructure projects.
Measures include aligning local and regional plans with the objectives of the National Development Plan. The lifespan of local authority development plans will be increased from five to 10 years to allow them be more strategic.
An Bord Pleanála will be significantly restructured, and renamed An Coimisiún Pleanála. Statutory timelines for decision-making will also be introduced. The Bill also includes restrictions on parties eligible to seek judicial reviews.
Opposition spokespeople have warned that the measures will actually increase delays and result in more legal challenges.
The most contentious measures include amendments related to proposals for offshore Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) storage. Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo took to social media to object to this, saying the Green Party “is about to do something terrible to the environment” and that the Bill would fast-track LNG terminals and facilitate fracking.
The Green Party insisted however Mr Ruffalo had given “a very misleading account of what is envisaged”.
The party said that Ireland’s long-term energy future is in renewable energy, but “we may need a strategic gas reserve as a backup in case supply is interrupted for any reason through the existing pipeline from the UK that supplies the majority of our gas”.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said it would embed fossil fuels for the long-term, and described the LNG facility as “strategic infrastructure”. If the Government did not support fossil fuels “you don’t legally designate something that you oppose or don’t think you need as strategic”.
Social Democrats housing spokesman Cian O’Callaghan said there was no guarantee in the legislation that such a facility “would not include fracked gas” or would not be commercial or permanent.
The Bill will lead to more delays and more costs for society, he said.
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