Credit: Cityswift
public affairs eolas
The use of emergency planning powers The Government is to use emergency planning powers in order to house refugees fleeing conflict in Ukraine. eolas analyses how and when these powers are and are not utilised. In March 2022, as millions of people began to leave Ukraine to escape the Russian invasion, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien TD wrote to local authority chief executives to inform them that provisions in the Planning and Development Act 2000 mean that certain developments can be initiated without a planning application under emergency conditions. These developments are being mooted as an answer to accommodating the up to 100,000 refugees expected to come to Ireland. The provision to which O’Brien was referring to is Part XI, section 179 (6)(b) of the 2000 Act, which deals with developments by local and state authorities. The section states that the rules and guidelines for planning listed “shall not apply to proposed development which is necessary for dealing urgently with any situation the manager considers is an emergency situation calling for immediate action”. The indeterminate language within the Act, which does not specify what constitutes an emergency and instead allows managers of these developments to determine
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for themselves, means that the powers can be used across a broad range of planning. As O’Brien’s letter to local authorities highlights, emergency planning powers were previously used in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, facilitating the construction of temporary hospitals, step-down facilities, healthcare facilities, vaccination and testing facilities, ancillary infrastructure, and other related works. “It is likely that these powers may have to be availed of again to address the accommodation and other requirements associated with managing the needs of those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine,” O’Brien wrote in his letter. At the time of O’Brien writing the letter, 600 people had already arrived in Ireland from war-torn Ukraine, and the number of refugees Ireland is expected to take on is at least 20,000 refugees. Individual people and families have already volunteered to accommodate refugees, but the Government’s invocation of emergency powers will see it make use of the myriad of vacant properties and hotels in Ireland.
