As I clearly outlined, there was a review in 2016. The recommendations on foot of that review are now being examined as to their implementation subsequent to that. My Department has an oversight agreement with An Bord Pleanála where vital issues and concerns are raised on an ongoing basis. The Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR, has statutory functions to conduct reviews in this area. The powers and armoury are there and are being acted on, as I referenced in terms of the implementation group, the oversight agre…

I just made clear that we are actively doing that, through the oversight agreement in the first instance, and the other two mechanisms I outlined. Some 27,000 planning permissions are granted in this State per annum, 10% of which go to appeal. The process is working as prescribed. There are instances, such as those the Deputy has outlined, of concern and we are actively engaging on those issues. The Minister and I are working on the judicial reform Bill, another key piece of legislation which will improve the funct…

The Derelict Sites Act 1990 confers significant powers on local authorities to tackle the problem of dereliction in our towns and cities. The application of the derelict sites levy is only one of those powers which also include requiring owners or occupiers to take appropriate measures on derelict sites and acquiring derelict sites by agreement or compulsorily. It is a matter for the local authority to determine the most appropriate use of the legislation within their respective functional areas. Addressing vacancy…

It is definitely not for the want of support from central government to local authorities. That can be proved with evidence. If one is to critically evaluate the network, one should look at Waterford. Almost 55% of Waterford's repair and leasing scheme has been utilised. That is delivering properties on the ground. I was there to see it first-hand. One should look at how compulsory purchase orders are used in Louth to deliver local properties that were derelict back into use. There is €50,000 available from the Dep…

I know exactly what I am talking about. I have been in Waterford, as I alluded to-----

Let me finish. I saw derelict sites being brought into use through the utilisation of schemes of the Department. I ask the Deputy to engage with his local authority to ask it what it is doing regarding the 400 houses he mentioned. The support exists in the Department to bring them back into use. I ask the Deputy to take up the question of why they are not being brought back into use. The Law Reform Commission is continuing to review the compulsory purchase order, CPO, process. On a larger point, on the Croí Cónaith…

My Department is currently undertaking a focused review of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. The review is addressing several key aspects, including noise, setback, shadow flicker, community obligation, community dividends and grid connections. Guidance on the noise aspect is currently being finalised by my Department in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, which has primary responsibility for environmental noise matters. Significant work has been undertaken on …

I thank Deputy Nolan for her supplementary question. In the first instance, I would love to give an exact date, but unfortunately I cannot because I do not have one. The Deputy referred to public consultation. There were 500 submissions in the round of public consultation to bring about the draft guidelines. Some are very technical in respect of noise and they are being assessed on a bilateral basis with the Department of the Environment, Climate Action and Communications. With regard to publishing the finalised ve…

I am absolutely aware of the urgency. The position was the same when I entered the Department. I have brought a sense of urgency to this matter also but, unfortunately, it is beyond our control. I say that genuinely because, in addition to there being another Department involved, there is the difficulty that we may require another strategic environmental assessment given the technicality of the noise measurements. That is going to take a significant period if it is required. As soon as I have an update – it was onl…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 17 together. The 2011 social housing assessment regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands according to the area concerned, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard household means policy. The 2011 regulations do not provide local authorities with any discretion to exceed the limits that apply to their administrative areas. Under the household means policy, which applies in all local authorities, net incom…

Our ethos is to ensure that the most vulnerable families are protected and not taken off the list. That is why I have emphasised the point regarding discretion in my response to the Deputy. However, if he wants to get in touch with me and provide me with examples that he has raised in the House, we will try to clarify the situation. If that means sending out a clarification to the local authority network on the point of discretion, we will do that. We do not want to see vulnerable families losing their places on th…

I hear the views that have been expressed and we will clarify it on foot of the examples the Deputy will give. I have highlighted that as we see it, the discretion should be carried forward through the local authority network if someone's circumstances have changed. It is beyond their control. The last thing we as a Government want to see is the vulnerable people that I meet every week in my clinics being knocked off the list due to unintended consequences, as have been cited here. With regard to Deputy Bruton's qu…

I thank the Deputy for his question. The Department builds in strategic water policy and infrastructural delivery programmes around the National Planning Framework 2018-2040 and the National Development Plan 2018-2027. Investment is primarily delivered through Irish Water while the Department operates the rural water programme directly. The programme for Government supports the uptake of Irish Water’s Small Towns and Villages Growth Programme 2020-2024, which would provide water and wastewater growth capacity in sm…

We will commit to doing that. We are establishing a programme early next year to support villages and towns that do not have public wastewater infrastructure to enable them to develop that through Irish Water. The senior Minister was down in Broadford and in a number of other parts of County Clare during the summer and I am very aware of the problem that if infrastructure is not there to support development in a small town or village, there is a very significant problem for the locality and society as a whole. The …

We have a specific taking-in-charge initiative, underpinned by a budget, which has worked in taking 330 estates containing more than 14,900 homes in charge. As to what the Deputy has outlined in the context of the taking in charge by Irish Water of a treatment plant, that depends on the criteria and there should not be an issue with that. If he has an example of that he might revert to us with it and the Minister and myself will have a look at it. I assure him that in the context of the work that he has done in the…

I should point out that this is still potentially before the courts, so I am restricted in what I can say about the specifics of the case. I will reply with fact. In the first instance, my role of Minister of State with regard to the planning system is primarily to provide a policy and legislative framework under which planning authorities, the Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR, and An Bord Pleanála perform their statutory functions. The legislative framework chiefly comprises the Planning and Development Act 2…

We have heard a number of sound bites from the Deputy which should guarantee a few clips in social media and potentially some coverage on regional radio.

For the past five minutes, I have listened to a Deputy blacken the names of highly respected public officials who have given great service to the State. I robustly defend their actions. I know how hard they work and how well they are doing in their roles. In his annual report, the Planning Regulator's detailed explanation of planning decisions taken throughout the country is exemplary. Safeguards are built into the system through the primacy of the Oireachtas. We hold the Planning Regulator to account with the Mini…

The Deputy makes a very valid point and we are trying to resolve the matter. Deputy Stanton and Councillor Anthony Barry, who works very closely with Deputy Stanton, have raised the issue consistently. Project Ireland 2040 is the overarching policy and planning framework for the social, economic and cultural development of Ireland. It includes the 20-year national planning framework, NPF, and the ten-year capital plan to 2030. The NPF and Project Ireland strategy includes very clear objectives to significantly grow…

I thank the Deputy for his response and I am absolutely delighted to take up his invitation. The review is expected to be concluded midway through 2022. We should expect a number of submissions and they may be complex but the target is to have it completed by mid-2022. The circular was sent to all the chief executives in the country and the chair of An Bord Pleanála for its attention. As the review is ongoing, we must monitor what results on foot of the issuing of the circular and what way decisions have taken acco…