State set to establish planning regulator
The establishment of a planning regulator was the most significant recommendation made by the Mahon Tribunal in March last year.
The independent regulator would review and assess all forward planning functions by local authorities, such as the drafting of city and county development plans.
The regulator will also have the power to advise the minister to reject or overturn part or all of a plan where it is not considered of sufficient quality.
Advice from the regulator will be published, but the decision whether to amend or reject it will rest the minister, who will be accountable to the Oireachtas for whatever decision is made.
Jan O’Sullivan, the housing and & planning minister, described the new post as a “a milestone” that would ensure sustainable development and enhance the lives of citizens and their communities.
“In formulating this proposal I engaged with a wide variety of stakeholders and I believe the new planning regulator will improve the quality of planning in Ireland, increase transparency and accountability and, most importantly, increase public trust in our planning system,” she said.
The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) will be established as a new and separate corporate identity and will be staffed and resourced, in so far as possible, by staff taken from or on secondment from An Bord Pleanála.
The regulator will also have investigative powers along the lines provided for by Section 255 of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2012
