Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2021-11-16
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

While it is good that the application will go back to the planning authority, the authority is then constrained in what it can do with it. I noted the exception to environmental factors and I imagine it is due to the Aarhus Convention and the rights in respect of environmental planning and the rights of the public to consultation, which is a core issue. This is a second pass. It is a pass in terms of whether there has been a strengthening. We cannot be retrospective but if people are coming back again looking for permission for modifications, it is an opportunity to raise the bar a little. It is a pity not to use it if, in the interim period, improvements have been made in something such as Part M of the building regulations on disability access. I will indicate that I might come in with specific amendments on Part M that address this. Similar to the environmental exemption, it should be an exemption that is used and addressed.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2021-11-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-11-16