Tánaiste Simon Harris has said that while he wants to see planning exemptions for IPAS centres “phased out,” it is not “possible” to do so at present.
Speaking to Gript outside Government Buildings on Tuesday morning, the Fine Gael Minister said that the current approach to International Protection accommodation was linked to emergency migration needs.
“I want to get us to a point where we don’t have an emergency response to migration,” he said.
“And therefore you wouldn’t need an emergency planning response.”
He added that the exemptions should ultimately be removed from the system.
“I would like to see a position where the exemption to planning processes could be phased out,” he said.
“I think we have to do that being honest at a moment when it’s possible to do it.”
The Tánaiste said that a number of other changes within Government may help to create the conditions for doing so.
“Some of the decisions the government has been taking in recent weeks and months will help enable that,” he said.
“Things like looking at how we utilise estate land so we don’t have a reliance, an over-reliance on the private market. And things like making sure we have a migration system that functions better, that is fairer but is also firm.”
He stated that the Government’s goal was to increase deportations and speed up application processing times.
“Firmer in terms of the application of rules, deportations where people don’t have a right to be here,” he said.
“And faster processing types.”
The Tánaiste said that emergency measures had been introduced as a direct result of the ongoing accommodation shortage, but should not remain in place indefinitely.
“We have to be realistic and truthful,” he said.
“In an emergency response we’ve had to do things that have flown from that. But over the course I don’t believe that migration accommodation should be treated any differently to accommodation more broadly when it comes to planning.”
His comments come after Kilkenny County Council passed a motion on Monday calling for all planning exemptions for IPAS centres in the county to be removed.
The motion was proposed by Independent Councillor Maurice Shortall, and seconded by Independent Councillor Eugene McGuinness. It also received backing from Fine Gael’s Cllr. Michael Doyle and Fianna Fáil’s Cllr. Joe Malone. No councillor opposed the motion, which passed unanimously.
Cllr. Shortall said the proposal was about ensuring fairness in the planning system.
“It is important to emphasise that the motion is for a fair planning system for all,” the councillor said.
“If I wanted planning permission for an extension etc, it would be a robust encounter with planning I would have to encounter.”
He claimed that individuals seeking to house asylum seekers could bypass public scrutiny.
“On the flip side if I was to buy a property that was adequate for living accommodation for multiple people I could bypass my neighbours under Section 5 and plough away in secret which is what we see up and down the country with no engagement,” he said.
“This motion isn’t targeted at immigrants, it’s targeted at the system that makes the rich richer in this country without the need for planning permission for multi million Euro businesses.”
Kilkenny County Council also agreed to send the motion to Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan and Housing Minister James Browne.