For the record, somebody who is sitting in the Chair should not interrupt a Senator mid-flow to welcome somebody to the Visitors Gallery. I want to be clear on that. It is not a fair thing to do. The Chair can wait until the Member finishes his or her contribution and then do it. I thought it was very disrespectful to Senator Seery Kearney, when she was in the middle of speaking, to be interrupted mid-flow for that. I am going to raise a couple of issues and speak to our amendment relating to the obligation to prep…

I move amendment No. 83: In page 70, to delete lines 1 to 5 and substitute the following: “(6) The Government shall submit the draft of a revised or new National Planning Framework, together with the Environmental Report and Appropriate Assessment Report, for the approval of each House of the Oireachtas before it is published. (7) A revised or new National Planning Framework shall take effect 4 weeks after the date of its having been approved by each House of the Oireachtas.”.

I thank the Acting Chairperson and the Minister of State. I will speak to some of the amendments in the grouping. I will do so backwards if that is okay. First, I will speak to amendment No. 112, which seeks, in page 74, to delete lines 34 to 36 and to provide a substitution. That essentially means that any guidelines that are currently there under the Act, except ones that are specifically repealed, remain in place until they have been repealed and replaced. A concern has been raised by some of the outside groups,…

I move amendment No. 88: In page 71, to delete lines 10 to 12 and substitute the following: “(5) The Minister shall not publish a National Planning Statement, amendment or revocation under subsection (3) unless a resolution approving a draft of the proposed National Planning Statement, amendment or revocation has been approved by resolution of each House of the Oireachtas.".

I move amendment No. 95: In page 71, lines 28 to 30, to delete all words from and including "the”" where it secondly occurs in line 28 down to and including "development" in line 30 and substitute the following: "the desirability of setting out policy and providing guidance in relation to the performance of functions under this Part relating to planning matters to support proper planning and sustainable development".

I move amendment No. 100: In page 72, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(j) protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of Irish language and Gaeltacht communities including the promotion of Irish as the community language, specifically by supporting the implementation of language plans in Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, Gaeltacht Service Towns, and Irish Language Networks, pursuant to the Gaeltacht Act 2012;”.

I move amendment No. 104: In page 72, lines 28 and 29, to delete “and the assessment of any application for development consent under Part 4 ”.

I move amendment No. 115: In page 76, to delete lines 37 and 38 and substitute the following: “(l) the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of Irish language and Gaeltacht communities, including the promotion of Irish as the community language, specifically by supporting the implementation of language plans pursuant to the Gaeltacht Act 2012;”. I will withdraw the amendment and possibly resubmit it on Report Stage.

Senator Burke has made some really important points. It relates to the hierarchy of plans in the planning system. We have the national planning framework, the national planning statement and the regional economic strategies which then feed down to development plans. They are all meant to interact with one other. I agree they should be extended to ten years. I have been through two development plan processes, along with Senator Fitzpatrick. I think we made some of our worst mistakes in coming up to a deadline of, sa…

I move amendment No. 136: In page 104, line 19, to delete “8 years” and substitute “7 years”.

While the Government Members have said that the Planning Regulator is dealt with under section 496, this is the only real opportunity we are going to get to discuss it. There has been a form of institutional capture of this Bill by the Planning Regulator. While An Bord Pleanála is having its name and functions changed, it is being split up into those who are looking after planning and those who are looking after the executive function. The Planning Regulator has unchecked power when it comes to interpretation of na…

I did not realise we were having a debate on each section.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 42, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “(2) Nothing in this Act shall be read as derogating in any way from or otherwise affecting the duties imposed on planning authorities, the Commission and the Minister by section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015.”.

I move amendment No. 17: In page 44, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “Student accommodation units: restriction on change of use 8 . (1) This section applies where student accommodation is developed pursuant to a permission granted under this Act or under Part 2 of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016. (2) Where this section applies, for a period of 15 years from the completion of the development no application shall be made or granted concerned for a change in us…

I move amendment No. 18: In page 44, to delete lines 20 to 22 and substitute the following: “(3) A person who contravenes a provision of regulations under this section that is described in the regulations as a penal provision shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable— (a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine, and (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €50,000.”

I want to back up the points about the "relevant person" and the massive change it makes to the planning system from the 2000 Act. This is not just about the legislation, which is trying to limit people's right to make objections and take judicial reviews, this is a basic, simple thing, which is access to planning information. This is putting planning behind closed doors again. Those types of things are relied on by people up and down the country every single day as a very simple functioning of the planning process…

If, at the moment, I have a concern that something is an unauthorised development and requires enforcement action, I am able to go to the local authority and check that. If this happens in the future and I check that with the local authority, and if the local authority, for whatever reason, does not come back to me or properly explain that to me, such that I am getting more stressed about it and wondering what is going on, what will be the remedies available to me? I will not have section 10 notices anymore and can…

I move amendment No. 31: In page 47, to delete lines 20 to 37, and in page 48, to delete lines 1 to 10 and substitute the following: “ “relevant person” means a person.”.

I move amendment No. 42: In page 56, lines 10 and 11, to delete “by an enforcement authority (within the meaning of Part 11) or the Director of Public Prosecutions”.

I move amendment No. 43: In page 56, to delete lines 28 to 30.