Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage Seanad Éireann — 2025-07-15 ============================================================ John Cummins (FG), Waterford Amendments Nos. 10 to 12, inclusive, all relate to the zoning of land. Amendment No. 10 seeks to provide that the regional economic and spatial strategies shall allow for the zoning of land for the particular use of affordable housing. I cannot accept this amendment as zoning requirements are adequately dealt with within the 2024 Act. The purpose of land use zonings is to indicate the development management objectives of the planning authority's administrative area generally whether residential, commercial, agricultural, recreational, open space or otherwise, or a mixture of those uses. When land is zoned for residential use, it is not appropriate to designate the housing type or tenure attached to such zonings. Land use zoning is determined at development plan stage. However, I cannot accept these amendments. Section 43 of the 2024 Act outlines the content requirements of development plans. Section 43(6) provides that the written statement for an integrated overall strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of an area included in the development plan shall include zoning objectives for the zoning of land for a particular use or a mixture of uses. Prior to the making of a development plan, a planning authority shall prepare a housing strategy for the purpose of ensuring that the housing development strategy makes adequate provision for the housing of the existing and future population needs of an area within the development plan in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of an area. The housing strategy shall take account of the existing and likely future need for affordable housing. Section 242(10) provides that up to 20% of land used for residential purposes, including land that is not zoned for residential use or for a mixture of residential and other uses but in respect of which permission for the development of houses is granted, must be provided for social, affordable or cost-rental housing. I am satisfied, therefore, that the existing provisions regarding affordable housing are appropriate. Amendment No. 11 seeks to provide that local authorities should have the power to purchase unzoned land for residential use. It would not be appropriate to provide for this within legislation. It is a matter for the local authorities concerned to acquire land on an ongoing basis for their own use. There is no preclusion on local authorities acquiring any given landbank. The future use of that from a zoning perspective then is a matter again for local authority members within the development plan process or any variation that may occur to that development plan. Amendment No. 12 seeks to provide that in zoning regard shall be had to the members of local authorities who shall have discretion in approving whether land should be zoned for residential use or other forms of use. Zoning is a reserved function of the elected members of local authorities and in preparing their statutory plans, including in relation to the zoning for particular purposes, elected members are required to consider and be consistent with the framework which is set down from the NPF, the regional economic strategy and relevant planning guidelines. Of particular relevance to the zoning of land for residential development, a ministerial circular on the housing supply target methodology for development planning guidelines for planning authorities were issued in 2020 to all local authorities under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The guidelines introduced a standard national approach to be employed by each planning authority in projecting housing supply targets for each of the specific six-year periods when reviewing city or county development plans and following on from that assessment the zoning of sufficient land to meet those housing targets. I am satisfied therefore that this is sufficient. For those reasons I cannot accept the three amendments. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-07-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:03+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-07-15