Planning and Development Act 2024

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Manner of making available of register, documents and information by planning authority and Maritime Area Regulatory Authority

384. (1) A planning authority shall—

(a) make the register, and the documents or information referred to in subsection (1) of section 383 available for inspection by members of the public at its offices during office hours,

(b) permit a member of the public to purchase copies of entries in the register, or of such documents or information, at its offices, or at such other place as it may determine, on payment to it of a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making the copy, and

(c) subject to subsection (3), where it is so prescribed, publish all or any part of the register or such documents or information on a website maintained by or on behalf of the planning authority, or by other electronic means.

(2) Subsection (1) shall apply to the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority subject to the modification that references in subsection (1) to the documents or information referred to in subsection (1) of section 383 shall be construed as references to the documents or information referred to in subsection (3) of section 383 .

(3) Where an application or request referred to in subsection (4) of section 383 or a matter falling to be decided by the Commission referred to in subsection (1) of section 385 is accompanied by an environmental impact assessment report or a Natura impact statement, the documents or information referred to in subsection (1) or (3) of section 383 relating to that application, request or matter shall be published on a website maintained by or on behalf of the planning authority, or the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, as the case may be.

(4) The Minister may prescribe additional—

(a) means by which inspection of the register, or documents or information referred to in subsection (1) or (3) of section 383 , by the public may occur, or

(b) requirements a person must comply with in order to inspect the register, or documents or information referred to in subsection (1) or (3) of section 383 .

(5) A planning authority or the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority may determine that the disclosure of a telephone number, or other contact information or personal data, contained in a document required to be made available under this section serves no legitimate purpose and may in such a case redact or otherwise remove the number or other information or data from the document before making it available.

(6) The Minister may, in the interests of protecting commercial sensitivity, the privacy, reputation or personal safety of an individual, the administration of justice, or the security of the State, prescribe additional—

(a) restrictions upon access to information or classes of information in the register or in documents referred to in subsection (1) or (3) of section 383 , or

(b) circumstances in which a planning authority or the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority may restrict access to the register or documents or information referred to in subsection (1) or (3) of section 383 .

(7) Where particulars of a document or information arising from the exercise of its functions are entered in the register, the planning authority or the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, as the case may be, shall retain the document or information for not less than 12 years from the creation or receipt by it of the document or information.

(8) The planning authority or the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, as the case may be, shall make a document or information required to be retained by it under subsection (7) (other than such documents as may be prescribed) available for inspection, at its offices during office hours, by—

(a) the owner or occupier of the land or maritime site to which the documents or information relate, or

(b) a person acting on the authority of such owner or occupier.

(9) Copies of the documents or information referred to in subsection (8), and of extracts from such documents or information, shall be made available for purchase at the offices of the planning authority or the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, as the case may be, or at such other places as it may determine, by the persons referred to in that subsection on payment to the planning authority or the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, as the case may be, of a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making the copy.

(10) Subsection (8) is without prejudice to the Freedom of Information Act 2014 , the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 to 2014, and the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. No. 309 of 2018 ).