Row erupts in Oireachtas committee over landmark planning bill

The four main opposition parties who have representation on the Oireachtas housing and local government committee have expressed serious concern over the schedule for scrutinising the landmark planning bill.

A major row has broken out in the Oireachtas housing and local government committee over the schedule for scrutinising the landmark planning bill going through Leinster House. 

The four main opposition parties who have representation on the committee have expressed serious concern over the schedule that is now being imposed on the committee to complete its work. 

The Planning and Development Bill 2023 is the first major law in planning in nearly 25 years and is a centrepiece in the Government’s housing agenda. The bill was repeatedly delayed last year before finally being published in November. Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has expressed the hope that it becomes law by the summer. However, the bill is 700 pages long and over 1,100 amendments have been proposed.

Now, opposition parties are expressing “deep concern” at the schedule being imposed, claiming that “the Government members of the committee are preventing proper scrutiny of a bill that will impact on the lives of millions for decades to come”. 

On Tuesday night, following a private session of the committee in which the schedule was discussed, the four opposition parties, Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Labour, and People Before Profit, issued a joint statement. It said that during the private session, the Government members had “imposed a meeting schedule for March 19, 20 and 21 involving 24 hours of meetings over three days. For the last three weeks the committee has held 17 to 19 hours of meetings a week on the bill.” 

The statement, which was signed by Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin, Social Democrats’ Cian O’Callaghan, Labour leader Ivana Bacik, and People Before Profit's Richard Boyd Barrett, noted that opposition deputies had individually previously written to committee chairman Stephen Matthews outlining that the schedule to date does not allow for proper consideration of what is “a complex and controversial piece of legislation”. 

It does not allow the ministers taking the bill to properly prepare for what can be very detailed and exacting scrutiny sessions. Nor does it allow all members who have tabled amendments to be present to discuss their concerns.” 

It also noted that the bill had been the subject of “significant criticism from a range of sectors involved in the planning and development process”. 

Mr Matthews expressed surprise on Tuesday night that there was concern over the bill's proposed schedule. He said that the schedule was agreed by the committee members, and "we are giving all the time required to scrutinise the bill. And if there are a few eight-hour days needed, I can't see how anyone would have a problem with that."