Vol. 550 No. 1
6 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department has received a legal warning from the European Commission regarding the introduction of a ?20 charge for planning objections; if so, the terms of the warning; the response issued by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6959/02]
In August 2000, the European Commission advised Ireland that it had received a complaint that a fee for the making of a submission on a planning application would restrict citizens' rights to participate in development consent procedures contrary to the public participation provisions of the EIA Directive and contrary to the spirit of the 1998 UNECE Aarhus Convention. Ireland's response of 6 December 2000 explained, inter alia, that the proposed submission fee would in no way contravene the terms of either the directive or the convention and that the Planning and Development Act, 2000, made a number of important changes of primary legislation to confer greater rights on third parties. The long-standing right of public access to planning files free of charge has been continued and indeed enhanced under the new Act.
In October 2001, the Commission issued a further letter, under Article 226 of the EU Treaty, indicating that the EIA Directive makes no express provision for the payment of a participation fee and suggesting that the submission fee may act as a serious impediment to the expression of opinions and undermine the purpose of the directive. A reply is about to issue to the Commission in refutation of this claim.
Article 6 of the directive specifies that the detailed arrangements for public participation are a matter for individual member states. The 2000 Act has considerably strengthened public participation in the planning process and I am satisfied that the fee of €20 will not deter any person or body who has genuine concerns in relation to a planning application.
Considering the reply to the letter from the EU commission last October is only about to issue, will the Minister proceed with the introduction of the fee for lodging planning objections on 11 March as was originally intended? Does he accept that the public gener ally does not know about the introduction of this fee? What plans, if any, does he have to advertise to the public his intention to charge €20 every time a letter is written to a county council about a planning matter?
The provision is due to come into force on 11 March and I intend that it will do so. There has been considerable publicity about this, but it will be a matter for the local authorities that have responsibility for planning to ensure it is fully publicised and that people are aware although most people are already aware of that.
Does the Minister have any plans to mount a campaign advertising the introduction of this fee? The Minister and his colleagues are very quick to engage in personalised advertising campaigns to tell the public what they are doing. On 11 March, the Minister will introduce a fee of €20 for people who wish to lodge planning objections. This is less than two weeks away and the public does not know about it. There has been doubt cast on it by the correspondence from the European Union. Does the Minister not have plans to personally advertise the fee he is introducing now rather than leave it to the local authorities?
I was under the impression that the Opposition was totally opposed to Ministers informing the public by way of advertisement.
We would like them to do so consistently and also give out the bad news.
Did the Deputy ever see me participate in a personalised advertisement for anything on behalf of my Department? I have not been too slow in standing up in relation to the shopping bag levy or anything else that is my direct responsibility because the money will come into an environmental fund.
Why will the Minister not tell the public about it?
I do not think the public needs to know.
People need to know.
I do not believe people are unaware of this but if they are, it is the responsibility of the local authority to inform them.
The Minister is washing his hands of it like Pontius Pilate.
No, I am not. I passed it and have stood over it.
The Minister should not answer questions that are put by way of interruption.
Is the Minister aware that in the same Bill, he reduced the time within which the public can make representations or objections to planning applications? Representations will simply be returned if not accompanied by a fee. Due to the short time available to people, it is critical that they know. They will ultimately find out about the plastic bag tax for which there has been a very extensive publicity campaign. Surely a similar campaign could be launched to inform the public of the necessity to submit this money with their objections.
I have no doubt that the local authorities will do that job very adequately.
