Former HSE boss Reid named as chair of An Coimisiún Pleanála
Mr Reid was a high profile figure during his time at the helm of the HSE from 2019 to 2022, a period dominated by the global pandemic.
Mr Reid will receive an annual salary of €50,000 as chair of An Coimisiún Pleanála, according to the Minister for Housing James Browne.
Mr Browne brought a memo to Cabinet on the appointment this morning.
The new planning body is being established in line with the phased commencement of the 2024 Planning and Development Act.
Mr Browne said the changes to An Bord Pleanála will be substantial.
The new body will be subject to statutory mandatory timelines to give confidence and certainty to applicants.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Schools ‘compelled to close' for elections as Wexford councillors suggest novel method to clean up register
On a county basis, Wexford is in a period of flux as it adjusts to the creation of two new electoral divisions (Rosslare and Kilmuckridge) and a new Dáil constituency (Wicklow-Wexford). With that in mind county secretary Michael Drea presented a draft of the new polling scheme for Wexford which, despite its title, was utilised in last year's local and general elections. While the GKMD councillors declared themselves happy with the boundaries of their respective divisions, there were concerns regarding the premises used on polling days. 'Does the council have any input on where the polling station is?' asked Cllr Anthony Donohue. 'In this day and age we shouldn't be closing schools for an election. Can we find alternatives to the schools? In Monaseed there's a hall straight across the road from the school. In Craanford there's two halls.' He had the support of Cllr Mary Farrell. 'Every time there is an election I'm always asked why are the schools closing,' she said. 'What are the options for different venues? Parents need to know; if a school is closed they have to find childcare or take a day off work. That's not acceptable.' According to Mr Drea, part of the reason why the county registrars use schools as polling stations is because they have the 'legal power to compel a school to close and make it available for polling day'. In addition, he said parish halls and community centres often had competing interests when it came to hiring out the premises. 'We would have been one or two bad experiences, anecdotally anyway, where halls were being used (for polling) and then there may have been a death in the area; a request was made to use the hall for refreshments, and that ended up taking priority.' On the topic of the register and removing some of those 500,000 names from it, senior staff officer Adrienne Larkin said the council took every precaution before doing so. 'The current practise requires us to have three documented attempts to contact someone before they are removed,' she said. 'If a death is registered with the HSE or the Department of Social Protection we have access to that information and we will verify it before removing someone. 'But there's always a danger of removing the wrong person, there could be someone with the same name living in the same town; previously there was a tendency to remove people without checking but now we make efforts to contact someone before removing them.' Explaining that three undelivered polling cards counted as documented attempts to contact someone, Ms Larkin said that a new system, requiring a PPSN number and an Eircode, would eventually help to eradicate the current issues. 'The only way to ensure the register is accurate is to make PPSNs mandatory,' agreed Mr Drea. 'You could very easily check for duplicates then. At the moment, it's incredibly difficult to keep track of everyone – if someone went to college in Dublin, worked in Galway, and then came back to Wexford, they could be registered in all three counties. "But I would take erring on the side of caution and having too many people on it than people not being able to vote because they're not on it.' Given the technology available, Cllr Joe Sullivan believed setting up a new system would not pose any problems for the government. 'It would appear simple to do it, once a person hits 18 that information could be fed across to the department. And if they moved around the country they could just update their location accordingly,' he mused. 'I have no doubt we could do it,' replied Mr Drea. 'If you can trace a cow from the time it was born then you can do it with a human.' 'You'd to have put a tag on their ear though,' remarked Cllr Paddy Kavanagh. .
Irish Independent
6 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Significant increase in Wicklow housing delivery targets projected by 2034
The garden county's annual target of 745 homes will increase to 2,068 by 2034. Housing Minister James Browne has announced new guidelines which aim to increase the number of houses built each year across the country from 33,000 to an average of 55,000 by the middle of the next decade, in line with revised targets under the National Planning Framework. Councils are also being asked to collectively zone enough land for an additional 50pc of the target, or a total of 83,000 new homes per year. The Department of Housing's guidelines acknowledge that 'a relatively significant proportion of zoned lands are not activated over the period of a development plan' and that land in desirable areas should be residentially zoned for future development. Minister Browne said it is important local authorities commence the process of revising their individual development plans as quickly as possible. 'This will ensure that sufficient zoned and serviced land is available for housing development. This will enable the full integration of the updated housing growth requirements into city and county development plans. Wicklow TD Edward Timmins has welcomed the release of the figures to the county council. 'Wicklow has been given one of the highest target increases nationally. I now ask the Minister to ensure that Wicklow County Council is given the internal resources such as extra planners and the external infrastructure to allow these targets to be achieved'. 'I also welcome the allowance for councils to zone 50pc above the requirement as many zoned lands will never be developed.' The figures are released after the local authority allocated over 90 new social homes across the county in June. Three major developments (Doire Dubh in Tinahely, Cois Droichid in Greystones, and Tinakilly Park in Rathnew) were completed in recent weeks, offering a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes. All units are A-rated for energy efficiency and finished to a high standard. Between 2022 and 2024, the council delivered 680 new-build social homes, exceeding its official Housing for All target of 478 by 142pc.
Irish Examiner
18 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Government looking to simplify process to improve access to housing schemes
The Government is considering a simplification drive for a slew of housing schemes, as part of its updated Housing for All plan. Multiple Government sources said that housing minister James Browne would be looking to streamline and improve access to schemes, particularly those that assist more vulnerable people. '[Minister Browne] will be looking at how schemes can be improved,' one source said. However, they added Mr Browne did not intend to 'drastically change' existing schemes. They added that ahead of the plan being published, other efforts were being made to ensure there were efficiencies within the system, which included the abolition of the four-stage approval process for social housing developments. Multiple sources pointed to the large number of housing schemes in place at present, with up to 45 available for people to access. One pointed to the fact that many schemes can overlap. Another senior source highlighted the large number of schemes in place, adding that some are 'more beneficial than others'. 'Where amalgamation is possible, it should be looked at,' they said. In the previous Government, there were a number of new schemes introduced to assist people in accessing housing, as well as schemes for direct use by builders and developers. These include the Croí Conaithe Cities scheme, which provides developers with funding to bridge the viability gap for the building of apartments, as well as the Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental investment scheme (STAR) which was targeted to help build cost-rental accommodation. Croí Conaithe was introduced to help bring vacant and derelict properties back into use as family homes and rental residential units by providing grants. For homebuyers, the First Home scheme was introduced, which would see the State provide funds to assist people to buy their home, but take an equity stake in the property. Proposals to streamline schemes come amid calls by some homelessness prevention charities for the Government to reform schemes like the Housing Assistance Payment (Hap). Last month, the Simon Communities of Ireland's latest Locked Out of the Market report for June found there were no properties available in Cork City that families accessing Hap would be able to rent due to being too expensive. Across the country, there were just 32 properties available to rent for anyone accessing the higher discretionary rate of Hap. In particular, there have been calls for Hap limits to keep pace with inflation. It is expected that the plan will be published in September, after being delayed until after the Government unveiled its revised National Development Plan – which is providing significant funding to the Department of Housing. In total, there has been €35.9bn allocated to the department for the next five years. One senior source said the funding was a 'step' in the right direction, but there would need to be 'a lot of changes' over the years ahead. While a formal update to the previous Government's housing plan is yet to be agreed, Mr Browne has made multiple policy changes since taking up office. This includes the formal adoption of the new National Planning Framework, which sets out the Government's housing targets up to 2030. This target calls for 303,000 houses to be built between now and 2030, meaning an average of 50,500 houses must be built each year.
