Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 November 2013
276. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the procedures in place for the demolition of buildings and disposal of associated debris in urban and rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47876/13]
View answerThe demolition of buildings - other than as exempted by Class 50 Schedule 2, Part 1 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (demolition, subject to conditions, of a building within the curtilage of a house, an industrial building, a business premises or a farmyard complex) - is subject to the requirement to obtain planning permission.
Section 34(4)(l) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 permits the attachment of conditions to a planning permission relating to construction and demolition waste management. A possible draft for such a condition is included in the Best Practice Guidelines on the Preparation of Waste Management Plans for Construction and Demolition Projects, issued by my Department in July 2006; this provides that prior to the commencement of development, the developer would be required to submit a formal Project Construction and Demolition Waste Management Plan to the local authority for agreement prior to Commencement Notice stage.
In June 2007, my Department issued the Development Management Guidelines for Planning Authorities. The Guidelines advise that, in relation to the issue of the proper management of construction and demolition waste, planning authorities should have regard to Departmental Circular Letter WPR 7-06 and Best Practice Guidelines on the Preparation of Waste Management Plans for Construction & Demolition Projects (available at www.environ.ie) or any subsequent revision of these guidelines. These guidelines primarily advocate maximum reuse of materials onsite, their segregation to facilitate recycling when not reused onsite, and minimal disposal.
The ongoing review of the Producer Responsibility concept in Ireland will examine the establishment of producer responsibility obligations for construction and demolition projects over a certain threshold. The final report of the review will be published in the coming months.
