Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage to begin pre-legislative scrutiny of Planning and Development Bill 2022

Tomorrow, Tuesday, 7 February, the Committee will meet at 3pm in Committee Room 3 of Leinster House with officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

On Thursday, 9 February, the Committee will meet at 9.30am in Committee Room 1 with representatives of the Office of the Planning Regulator and An Bord Pleanála.

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Steven Matthews said: “This Bill proposes to reform the planning process to make it more coherent and user-friendly and bring greater clarity, consistency and certainty to how planning decisions are made. Reforms are proposed for timelines for the consent process, judicial reviews of planning decisions and to An Bord Pleanála, which will be renamed An Coimisiún Pleanála.

“On Tuesday afternoon, the Committee will be briefed on the Heads of the Bill by officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which is bringing forward the legislation. On Thursday morning we will hear the views of Office of the Planning Regulator and An Bord Pleanála on this important piece of law.”

The Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

The meetings in Committee Room 3 and Committee Room 1 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.