Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage debate -
Tuesday, 30 Apr 2024

Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2024: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

An Cathaoirleach

This will be a brief meeting that will run to 2.45 p.m. We meet following the referral to this committee by both Houses of the Oireachtas of the Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2024. My understanding is that this is the fourth year the committee has considered this matter. I welcome the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and his officials to the committee to brief us on these regulations.

Before we begin, I will read a note on privilege. I remind members of the constitutional requirement that they must be physically present within the confines of the place in which the Parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House, in order to participate in public meetings. The witnesses attending in the committee room are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their contributions to today's meeting. This means they have an absolute defence against any defamation action for anything they say at the meeting. Members and witnesses are expected not to abuse the privilege they enjoy and it is my duty, as Chair, to ensure the privilege is not abused. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in respect of an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks and it is imperative they comply with any such direction.

Members and witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against either a person or entity outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I invite the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to make his opening statement and briefly describe the purpose of these regulations.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Darragh O'Brien)

Gabhaim buíochas, a Chathaoirligh. I am grateful to the Cathaoirleach and to the committee members to have the opportunity to present to them today these proposed planning regulations.

The regulations consist of the Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2024 which waive the section 254 street furniture licence fees for the remainder of 2024 for tables and chairs associated with outdoor dining. As members will know, like many other sectors, the hospitality and restaurant sector, and indeed the wider tourism sector, suffered the brunt of the measures to manage the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years and the ongoing impacts of cost inflation.

The Government is committed to providing support to assist these sectors, where appropriate, and these regulations are a repeat of the measures we introduced, as the Chair said, in 2021. This will be the fourth year in which we have brought these regulations forward to assist the hospitality sector by reducing the cost of maintaining outdoor dining in public spaces. Again, there will be no fee for awnings, canopies and heaters that are used in conjunction with the tables and chairs.

The draft regulations I have laid before the Oireachtas propose to waive the fees chargeable for street furniture licences under section 254 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, and Schedule 12, Part 1 of the associated Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, in order to assist in reducing the cost burden for hotels, restaurants, cafés, public houses and other establishments where food is sold for consumption.

In this regard, the street furniture licence fee for installing tables and chairs to facilitate the consumption of food in places I have just mentioned is being reduced on a time-limited basis for the current year up to the end of 2024 from €125 per table to €0 per table. Furthermore, it remains the position that no fee will be applied on a permanent basis, which were changes we made as a committee before, in respect of the installation of awnings, canopies, heaters and other related furniture such as these, provided they are in conjunction with outdoor tables and chairs.

Under the provisions of the Planning and Development Act, I am required to obtain Oireachtas approval for any exempted development regulations, or regulations amending the fees for street furniture licences, before I can sign them into law. Hence the presentation of these regulations to the committee.

I commend these draft regulations to the committee. Having regard to the legacy impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing cost inflation, the regulations are aimed as a continued support for the hospitality and tourism sector in the current challenging economic environment facing that sector, while also facilitating increased vibrancy and commercial activity in urban areas. These have been welcomed by the sector over the past three years. I also want to ensure that where outdoor furniture is placed, it ensures that areas are still fully accessible for people. Our local authorities have done a good job in doing that. People have got more used to dining and to having their cups of coffee outside since the Covid pandemic even though the weather does not always help in that regard. I have seen the added vibrancy it gives to main streets right across our country, including in my own constituency.

If, further to today’s presentation to the committee, these draft regulations are subsequently approved by positive resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas, as required under the planning Act, they will come into force as soon as they are signed by me. If approved by the Oireachtas, it would be my intention to sign the regulations into law at the earliest possible opportunity. I am happy to take any questions members may have and to hear their views on this. In real terms, this is a good cost reduction measure. As I said, we have made permanent changes on canopies, heaters, awnings and that type of thing. These street furniture regulations are reviewed each year and the current draft regulations before the committee will involve the waiving of the fee until 31 December 2024.

An Cathaoirleach

I thank the Minister very much. We had agreed when the meeting was being organised that I might just outline some of the concerns. Members will have an opportunity, in any event, to contribute for a minute or two but we must finish at 2.45 p.m.

I agree with the Minister that this is an important measure and that it helps businesses, which are struggling with costs. When we introduced it as part of the Covid measures, we also introduced very substantial grants for those businesses to buy outdoor furniture. That seems to have caught on after Covid and is well used.

It is welcome that we extend it. To be clear, we are extending the waiver to the end of December 2024. There will be no charges for tables and chairs up to December 2024 and we may extend it after that. Canopies, awnings and heaters will have no charge permanently if they are provided in conjunction with the tables and chairs.

An issue I want to raise is one we have discussed many times, namely, it is very important there is ongoing monitoring by the local authority. We have all been guilty of dragging a chair into the sunshine when the sun drops around a building. We need to watch out for that creep of tables and chairs along the pavements so we do not overclutter them. Because there is no fee, there might be a desire to put out as many tables and chairs as possible and we want to make sure the pavements remain accessible for pedestrians, in particular anybody with accessibility or mobility issues. We also want to ensure public places are not overly dominated by private tables and chairs and that we still have that accessibility in public places. If people do not wish to buy a coffee, a sandwich, a pint or otherwise, they should still have access to those public places.

We have raised these issues before with the Minister. The committee is very much of a mind to agree this request. I will open the floor to members to make their points. I call Deputy O'Callaghan.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

I agree with the comments of the Chair. I would like to have clarity on two issues. The Minister said this is for the remainder of the year but is it the case that the fees are waived for all of 2024? Second, if a local authority has been charging these fees up to now, was it correct to do so, in particular if it has been charging them for the first three or four months of the year? Will the Minister explain that? Local authorities are charging these fees now and it is causing quite a lot of comment.

An Cathaoirleach

I think the fees applied up to April 2024.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

I am asking for the current position.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

To answer the question directly, people have been charged for the first three months of the year, or coming up to the first four. Once I sign the regulations into law, there will be no charge but there is no refund of what has been paid already. It is annualised and then divided so, effectively, it would be for one quarter of the year. That is what people have been levied for the first period of this year, should they have had outdoor street furniture. In some instances, that has happened and it will be the case for many, given it is coming up to the summer season, which we hope arrives at some stage or another. Should the Oireachtas and the committee approve this, we will sign the regulations into law straight away. However, there will be no refund of what has been paid already for the year. These are for the remainder of the year, that is, up to the end of the year.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

If businesses had their chairs and tables out for the first four months, they would have been paying the fees for the first third of the year. Is that the situation?

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

Yes.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

As with previous years, I have no objection at all to the proposition on the table. I have three questions, and while the same questions are asked each year, it is worthwhile to give a little time to them. When the waiver was first introduced, there was concern in some local authorities around issues of public liability insurance and so on. In the Minister’s officials’ engagement with the local authorities, has that issue been addressed or resolved? Has it dissipated or does it still feature in those conversations? Is there anything the Minister can share with us on that?

Second, one of the big issues in terms of street clutter is storage and stuff not being stored inside the premises but on the street, which is quite dangerous. Have guidelines or advice been given to the local authorities in terms of in-property storage rather than on-street storage?

We previously had representations and concerns from some of the disability advocacy groups. Again, has there been any engagement with them? None of this is an argument against but it is just to make sure their voices are part of the conversation. Obviously, we want this to be done but we want it to be done in a way that is safe and does not create further obstacles for people who are visually impaired or with disabilities in terms of their access to the streets.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

To directly answer the question with regard to insurance, no issues at all have been raised by local authorities with us in our engagement on this. By the way, I should have mentioned at the start that the last full year for which we have figures for the waiver is 2021 and the cost to local authorities was €589,000 across all 31 local authorities.

I do not believe it will change substantially, but I expect to have the 2022 full year returns very shortly. The waiver is worn by the local authorities. In that period, however, we have increased local authority funding quite substantially.

No issues have been raised by the local authority management sector or the LGMA with regard to insurance.

On storage, the preference is in-property storage. I agree with the Deputy. I have seen that where there is no in-property storage, the tables and chairs must be secured. In the main, however, the vast bulk will be stored in-property and on the premises. We still have some units where the car parking spaces were effectively handed over on a temporary basis by local authorities, let us say, on the street to provide additional outdoor facilities. I am glad to see that in many instances local authorities have retained many of them. They have retained many of the streets that were pedestrianised because it has worked for people. I am engaging with the local authorities on what we could do regarding the aesthetic look of some of them, which were quite temporary at the time, and whether there is anything we can do with businesses about more permanent structures. There will be planning issues with that, but they are on a temporary basis.

The question of accessibility is really important. Everyone will have to make a licence application anyway. The number and location of those tables and chairs is retained by each local authority. This speaks to the Chair's point. That encroachment or creep of furniture is something we do not want to see. We must make sure that accessibility is paramount in this and that where street furniture is put in place, it does not in any way inhibit those who might have mobility issues in passing by. Have we had any recent engagement with the disability sector? I have not, because these have rolled on year-on-year. However, we have been at pains to tell local authorities that, in their assessment of the licence applications, they ensure there is proper accessibility on a universal basis. They are monitored. I know from my own experience that it is monitored in Fingal County Council, which is the area I represent, and where there is encroachment outside of the licensed area, that is not permitted and those tables, chairs and other furniture would have to be removed. I hope that answered the three questions the Deputy raised.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

Yes. I thank the Minister.

An Cathaoirleach

I will let Deputy Gould and Senator Boyhan in and then the Minister can answer both sets of questions.

Deputy Thomas Gould

I will touch on the point the Minister mentioned about accessibility. In Cork city, during Covid, a number of streets were pedestrianised, which was very successful with restaurants, bars and cafés having on-street dining. We welcomed and supported it. There were issues about accessibility, though, which the Minister touched on. It is really important that local authorities work with the industry but at the same time ensure that people with limited mobility and disabilities are not left out. There is a balance to be struck because people always have a right to access. That is something on which I would encourage more engagement with disability groups and campaigners.

I cannot remember which Minister brought it forward, but the issue was raised that local authorities should do an accessibility audit. The problem is that when I raised the issue in the Dáil, there was no financial support behind it. I ask the Minister and the Department to look at putting funding in place for local authorities to carry out this disability audit. That would then allow every local authority to disability-proof their cities, towns and villages. It is a really positive thing. Some local authorities do it and they should be commended. Every local authority should do it, however, and funding should be provided to support it. It is a really positive thing we could do for people with disabilities.

I have been trying to make Cork a disability-friendly city for people who travel and for tourism. That is something we should be rolling out nationally. On the back of that, I certainly believe local authorities in cities such as Cork and other major cities and towns should have a disability officer. There is an accessibility group that meets in Cork.

With regard to planning and the changes that are made, each local authority with a major city or town within its area should have such an officer.

The last point I will make relates to one the Minister has made. There are a lot of businesses struggling, especially tourism businesses, cafes and bars. We have a representative in the Bandon-Kinsale area, Clare O'Callaghan. She was telling me about the number of businesses, cafes and restaurants, that are closing in west Cork. West Cork was one of the major tourism areas of the country. There are really big problems there and so we welcome this. However, the Government probably needs to do something more on a broader scale. I will finish on that.

Senator Victor Boyhan

It is good to see the Minister here. I thank him for coming. At the very outset, I note that we are all conscious and aware of the living streets initiatives, as is the Minister. I think they are excellent. We need to enliven our streets. One of the good things about the Covid pandemic was that we utilised our open public realm well. Much of that came down to unintended consequences. I am very conscious of Malahide. I often commute out there from Monkstown on a Sunday. It is a very lively place, albeit that one goes down the road at a 45° angle. There was a lot of controversy about that at the time but it seems to have bedded down. I see what it has done to the Minister's own neighbourhood and what is happening in mine.

I will just make a few observations. One is that, having been a director of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind for many years, I know there are difficulties in that regard. Second, I have not found Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, my own local authority, of which I was a member and in whose area I live, supportive. I raised many issues with the council and while it acknowledged them and said it would look into them, it did sweet damn all. I am disappointed to have to put that on the public record here. There are obstacles for elderly people, people with disabilities and young children. The gambit in terms of accessibility is a bit of a problem. We have streets where people cannot get by. We have traders who are extending beyond their remit and into the footpaths so that people cannot get past. We have a major difficulty here and it is not good enough. I have come together with a number of disability groups to lead a delegation to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council because we are unhappy. I have raised this with all of the TDs in that constituency. Many of them are champions of the disability sector.

We welcome the use of the public realm. The Minister touched on something that is very interesting, the temporary nature and scruffiness of many of these hoardings. On Baggot Street, I see broken down bits of boxes and unwatered plants. I see things that have been abandoned. A circular needs to go out to the local authorities to tell them the standard that is expected. We are talking about putting up temporary platforms, timbers and so on so it does need to be cleaned up. There really needs to be better monitoring because, if we were to follow up and seek statistics as regards public liability insurance claims related to these temporary structures, something I initiated last week, I believe we would be quite shocked. The local authorities and their chief executives have a duty of care as regards public liability insurance claims. Such claims are going to come about as a result of badly constructed temporary platforms.

The big issue I am here today about is people with disabilities, young people, elderly people and senior citizens negotiating these areas, particularly in some of the smaller villages. I support the initiative and recognise that trade needs to be extended.

I will make a final point. I spoke to a woman who has been living over a shop with her husband for the last 60 years. She told me that she has to endure nothing but music from boxes on the wall until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. This is in a very affluent little village in south County Dublin. She has been verbally abused by the traders when asking them to turn the music down. It is all associated with this outside public realm stuff. We need to look at regulations. I do not want to over-regulate the sector but, at a time when we are promoting living over shops and living in our towns and village, it is not unreasonable for people to expect to go to bed at a reasonable time. There is smoking going on in these places, with the smoke coming up to their bedrooms in draughts. There is noise. They have to confront bottles, alcohol and dirt. I will finish by saying that, in this circular, we also need to cover how waste management is dealt with so that the issue of private sector bottles, food and rubbish being dumped in public bins in the public realm is addressed. I support the initiative but we need to tweak it and to address some of those concerns. I thank the Minister very much.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

Many businesses have chairs and tables outside all year round, so why was the waiver not in place from 1 January 2024? Was there an allocation for it in the Estimates for 2024?

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

There is no specific Estimate. I have given the most up-to-date figure we have, at just short of €600,000. In the period since we brought in this waiver, local authority funding has been increased substantially. The 31 local authorities have effectively worn this waiver as a business-cost-reduction measure. In preparation for the regulations, we have to assess whether we should do it again, and I believe coming into the summer months and through to the autumn is the right time to do that. These are not on a permanent basis but, as I stated earlier, we have introduced other measures relating to canopies, heaters and awnings, for which there is no fee or charge anymore, and that is a permanent change. I cannot say whether this waiver will continue indefinitely. The licence application process is really important to ensure that the issues of accessibility and design will be controlled by the local authority. It is not just a blanket waiver, although I know that is not what the Deputy is looking for.

In 2021, the then Minister of State with responsibility for planning, Deputy Peter Burke, issued Circular PL 06/2021 to local authorities specifically in respect of consideration of accessibility and universal design when assessing an application for tables and chairs under section 254. We will reissue an updated circular on foot of this discussion, because the points Deputy Gould, Senator Boyhan and others have raised are absolutely valid. While I have not seen this too often, there are also other matters relating to permanent clutter.

Some local authorities have carried out surveys, which I support, of signage, not relating to restaurants but rather to defunct signage, phone boxes and so on that are found throughout our streets in towns, villages and cities. That is something the local authorities should tackle in a systematic way to see what is needed and what is not and to remove what is not needed. There have been great improvements to the public realm in the Cathaoirleach's constituency, such as in Wicklow town. I could give many other examples, such as in Cork city, where the local authority has been prominent in providing for permanent pedestrianisation. The same is true of Fingal and my town, Malahide, where the change that has been made has allowed people to enjoy the public realm throughout the year. It is one of the reasons the URDF has been so important to improving the public realm. Only last week, I saw the completed works in Tralee, County Kerry, where fantastic work has transformed the centre of the town, and that funding was provided through the URDF. Another example is in Ennis, and I could go on.

Deputy Gould has just left the room but I might turn to the point about business costs. There are cost-of-business grants, which have been launched by the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, and the Department of enterprise to further support businesses with the additional and rising costs. This is one measure that helps not just on a cost reduction basis but also for many smaller businesses, such as cafés, for which it provides additional capacity that can greatly increase their income. As well as reducing costs, it has meant some smaller businesses have been able to increase their capacity and, in some instances, double it, examples of which I have seen, by appropriately using outside spaces to provide tables for customers. Accessibility is crucial.

On the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown issue, it sounds as though Senator Boyhan is dealing with that. I am disappointed to hear he has not had a good hearing there, and if he requires any assistance, which I doubt he will, I will be interested to hear from him. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown did lead the way on active travel and was very prominent within that. I am a big supporter of active travel and safe routes to school. People need to be able to enjoy their public realm and the spaces in their towns, villages and cities.

I thank members for their contributions and support for these measures. We will move quickly to get the regulations signed into law such that the street furniture fees will be waived for the remainder of the year.

An Cathaoirleach

I thank the Minister. I understand a circular will go to local authorities now to inform them of that. Could that circular reiterate what was said by the Minister, Deputy Burke, about monitoring and accessibility? It would be helpful.

Deputy Darragh O'Brien

That will be done.

An Cathaoirleach

Perfect. I thank members and thank the Minister for his attendance.