Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Walsh and his staff for coming here and I wish them well. I thank him for his presentation which was circulated to us yesterday, and which I read in detail. I will pepper a few questions with comments and he might take them as he sees fit.

I acknowledge that An Bord Pleanála is independent. Its independence and impartiality are important. It is a participant in the process. Encouragement, engagement and transparency are also important in this two-way process. Some people in the public domain feel that sometimes the board is not impartial. The board does not help itself and concerns can be raised when it gives a very summarised version of how it reports its activities and, in particular, its findings. There will always be a certain amount of tension in a system. I will go through the issues as I see them. We are conscious that it is about planning, sustainability, making better communities and there will always be tensions.

An Bord Pleanála has a statutory 18-week process for making a decision but the time taken has been poor in the past. I took the time to look at Mr. Walsh's predecessor's previous three annual reports. They refer constantly to striving to increase compliance with the statutory obligation of 18 weeks. Clearly, the board has addressed that and it is going to work on that but it is of major concern. We have heard large developers talking about their frustrations with the process. If someone is building an extension or a cottage in the west, the board still needs to comply with the key statutory objective of 18 weeks.

Could Mr. Walsh detail the Exchequer income, which is the principal source of funding, and other sources of funding that the board receives? I am aware of the amount the board received in 2018 but how much was budgeted for An Bord Pleanála for 2019, if the figure is to hand? If not, Mr. Walsh could come back to us with it.

His predecessor talked about an independent review in 2016. The review began in 2017 and it made a substantial number of recommendations, which I looked at. Some of them have not been implemented and there may be good reason for that. Others have been implemented on a staged basis. One key recommendation related to how the board itself is appointed. How is that progressing? If the information is not available today, Mr. Walsh might furnish the committee with an update on the review. If he considers it appropriate, he might talk to us about that.

On resources, is the board equipped to successfully meet the increasing challenges in terms of its expanded remit and competence and the demands on it, effectively, by the Government? I am mindful, in particular, of Rebuilding Ireland and the board's commitments in that regard. The board has not delivered on all its targeted commitments in the plan. If one does a word search for Rebuilding Ireland in the five pillars, one will see all the commitments there. I suggest that at some stage it might be helpful for this committee if we look back at all of the key objectives the board was tasked with. There may be good reason they are not happening. Mr. Walsh mentioned e-Planning and there is another similar process. Three or four deadlines have been missed, but the board was doing a pilot scheme. However, it might be a good exercise to look back at the responsibilities An Bord Pleanála was tasked with under Rebuilding Ireland.

The board's information and communications technology, ICT, strategy is important in terms of how it will engage more with the public and provide platforms. It is important where there are large planning applications, especially outside Dublin, because people do not have the same access to the board. I will leave it at that. I think Mr. Walsh knows what I am talking about.

Litigation has become a major issue. This was identified by Mr. Walsh's predecessor as well. Mr. Walsh may have seen "Prime Time" last night. There has been much negative comment about Ministers, Deputies, county councillors and various other representative bodies in respect of their interface with the planning process. I do not believe we should apologise as public representatives for engaging in the planning process. We have a representative role. It is right, proper and appropriate that public representatives make representations on behalf of their constituents. However, it must be open and transparent and there must be a mechanism for the public to see those interfaces with the planning authority. That is worth saying because it came up last night. The Sunday Independentcarried a major story that implied politicians were all over the place frustrating the planning processes. If the system is robust enough, correct and full of integrity, it will withstand challenges, which is all they are.

I wish to draw the attention of witnesses to three or four more issues but I will not comment. This is a very interesting case, namely, Connolly v. An Bord Pleanála.