The Planning and Development Bill will not be enacted until after the Dáil’s summer recess.
Senators were informed this morning, by email, that further time will be required by the Bills Office to prepare the new law for consideration by the Seanad and to process subsequent amendments.
It follows an assurance form the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien last April that the bill would be passed by the summer recess “come hell or high water”.
Running to over 700 pages, it is the third largest piece of legislation in the history of the State, and is seen as a cornerstone of the Government’s housing policy.
The legislation seeks to simplify the planning process and speed up decision making.
However, Sinn Féin has warned that it is “overly complex, littered with confusion and unduly cumbersome”.
Senators were told this morning that the “report and final stages” of the bill will not be dealt with until the autumn.
The bill concluded report stage in Dáil last night but must now go before the Seanad for further consideration.
A spokesperson from the Department of Housing said that “the timing of this is a matter for the Oireachtas”.
They added that “it must be noted however that the Bill will be substantially completed before the summer recess and the majority of amendments to be brought at Seanad stages will be of a technical nature, mainly related to transitional and consequential provisions”.
The bill will go before the Seanad on 27 June, and the deadline for receipt of amendments is Tuesday 2 July. There is concern amongst some politicians that this does not allow enough time for scrutiny.
Senators were told that the Bills Office in the Oireachtas will require a further two weeks to process the subsequent amendments, meaning committee stage will be scheduled over three days from Monday 15 to Wednesday 17 July.
“It is not intended to deal with Report and Final Stages until the autumn,” the email states.
