Vol. 514 No. 3
252 Ms Clune asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans, if any, he has to revise the restrictions on the development of retail units greater than 3,000 square metres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4070/00]
In June 1998 I made a policy directive and regulations under the planning Acts to limit the size of supermarket development to 3,000 square metres, pending the carrying out of a detailed study of retail development and the publication of planning guidelines by my Department. In April 1999 my Department published draft retail planning guidelines for public consultation. The draft guidelines recommended that, pending the preparation and adoption of development plan policies by local authorities, the floorspace cap of 3,000 square metres, which was introduced on supermarket development, should be retained in the rest of the State outside Dublin. Within the greater Dublin area, it is recommended that the floorspace cap be increased to 3,500 square metres. When publishing the draft guidelines, the carrying out of a further study of the economic effect of the implementation of the guidelines was announced. This study commenced in early January and is expected to be completed by the end of March 2000. The results of this study will be considered with the submissions received on the draft guidelines in finalising the retail planning guidelines which I expect to issue by mid-year.
