Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 April 2023
175. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the engagement his Department has had with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the interactions between the proposed Planning and Development Bill 2022 and the Aarhus Convention. [19788/23]
View answerEngagement between my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in policy areas of mutual interest, including the interactions between planning policy and Ireland’s obligations under the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (The Aarhus Convention), occurs frequently and on an ongoing basis between officials, including at senior levels.
In September 2021, the Government approved a comprehensive review of planning legislation under the supervision of then Attorney General, Mr Paul Gallagher, SC. The Review Group represented extensive independent planning and legal expertise, while engagement with a wider range of stakeholder views was facilitated by a Planning Forum. Compliance with the Aarhus Convention was one of the base lines of the Planning Review. The Review Group completed their work by the end of 2022, and the text of the draft Planning and Development Bill was published in January 2023.
As part of the process of engagement between my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as lead Department in planning policy and the Planning Review, an Interdepartmental Planning Working Group was established, and met regularly to exchange views on proposed text in areas of the Draft Planning and Development Bill of mutual interest. In addition, both Departments have engaged bilaterally on a range of policy matters of mutual interest during the development of the Planning Bill, and also jointly engaged with Irish Environmental Network (IEN) representatives to understand their views on the draft Bill. After two meetings, the IEN produced a report detailing their concerns. My officials are currently considering the contents of this report.
