Minister denies amendment to planning bill arose due to lobbying of developers

Junior minister Malcolm Noonan said the controversial amendment to be introduced into new planning laws had been brought forward by officials from within the Department of Housing. File picture: Patrick Bolger Photography

A Government minister has denied there was lobbying by developers for a controversial amendment to be introduced into new planning laws.

Scrutiny of the Planning and Development Bill 2023 has led to focus on a Government amendment which would prevent planning authorities from refusing new developments solely on the basis that housing is maxed out in a particular area under a local development plan.

This amendment was also the subject of advice from Attorney General Rossa Fanning, sent to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien on February 2.

The advice details that the amendment itself was prompted by a refusal of a housing development in Greystones, Co Wicklow, as the housing growth target for the area had been reached.

Mr Fanning’s advice gives arguments both in favour and against introducing such an amendment, with the argument against saying that it goes against other provisions of the legislation which focus on plans being developed by local authorities.

However, he says that the decision is “ultimately a political call” and that the amendment may be desirable in “circumstances where there is an acute shortage of housing”, unless there are other reasons to refuse development.

At a meeting of the housing committee on Wednesday morning, Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin raised questions about the amendment, saying that previous contributions from Mr O’Brien were contrary to Mr Fanning’s advice.

Mr Ó Broin said that Mr O’Brien’s contribution to a previous meeting of the committee, where he said that he was not aware of applications being refused on the “sole grounds” of being over housing growth targets, did not reflect the advice from the Attorney General.

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“The concern I have is we were given the impression by the minister that this amendment wasn’t based either on existing examples or a single example of such an approval. The letter the AG [Attorney General] had sent to the minister, in fact, says the very opposite. It flatly contradicts the minister’s testimony to this committee.”

Asked if there had been any input from developers over this amendment, junior minister Malcolm Noonan said that it had not arisen through lobbying and instead had been brought forward by officials from within the Department of Housing.

He said the bill has been continuously reviewed by the department to ensure that it fully delivers the best possible planning system into the future. Mr Ó Broin countered that it was “not credible” to suggest that the decision to introduce such an amendment did not arise out of a discussion on the Wicklow planning decision.