The Planning and Development Bill 2023 is the culmination of a comprehensive legal review of the Planning and Development Bill 2000 (as amended) by the Office of the Attorney General. There was consultation with stakeholders as part of the Review followed by extensive pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. The Bill is currently before the Oireachtas and recently completed all stages in the Dáil.
Alongside the Bill, a full review of the Planning and Development Regulations is underway and updated regulations are being prepared to enable the new Act to be commenced. There will be consultation, where required, on these regulations.
Each planning authority must include prepare Development Plans for their functional area, which provide for people with disabilities. In section 48 of the Bill, the strategy must include “the provision, or the facilitation of the provision, improvement, extension and preservation of amenities, facilities and services to meet the social, community, recreational and cultural requirements of the functional area, including the needs of children, the elderly and persons with disabilities”. Separately, my Department sets Building Regulations requirements for new buildings and extensions or material alterations to existing buildings, to comply with the legal minimum performance standards set out in the Building Regulations 1997 - 2024. In this context, the Building Regulations (Part M Amendment) Regulations 2010, and the accompanying Technical Guidance Document (TGD) M – Access and Use (2010), which came into effect on 1 January 2012, set out the minimum statutory requirements that a building must achieve in respect of access. The TGDs are available on my Department’s website at
www.housing.gov.ie/housing/building-standards/tgd-part-d-materials-and-workmanship/technical-guidance-documents.The requirements of Part M aim to ensure that regardless of a persons’ age, size or disability:• new buildings other than dwellings are accessible and usable;• extensions to existing buildings other than dwellings are, where practicable, accessible and useable;• material alterations to existing buildings other than dwellings increase the accessibility and usability of existing buildings, where practicable;• certain changes of use to existing buildings other than dwellings increase the accessibility and usability of existing buildings where practicable; and• new dwellings are visitable.Part M of the Building Regulations aims to foster an inclusive approach to the design and construction of the built environment. While the Part M requirements may be regarded as a statutory minimum level of provision, the accompanying technical guidance encourages building owners and designers to have regard to the design philosophy of universal design and to consider making additional provisions, where practicable and appropriate. In addition, the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS) responds to the principles of universal design, as outlined in documents including ‘Building for Everyone, A Universal Design Approach’. Disability Access Certificates, which specify that the works or building to which the application relates will, are carried out in accordance with the plans and specifications submitted and comply with the requirements of Part M of the Building Regulations. It is an offence to occupy or use a building without having a valid Disability Access Certificate in place as required.
