Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone who has come in. I have some questions for the board and some for the Office of the Planning Regulator. I will probably only get to the Office of the Planning Regulator in this slot so I will come back in again. I will be out for a little while at 11 a.m. as per usual but I will be back afterwards.

On the proposed section 326, which is about the review of planning functions by the Office of the Planning Regulator, should there be a mechanism through which people could challenge or appeal a decision by the office not to carry out a review? To give a real world example, in recent times, on 28 November 2021, Frank McDonald wrote to the Office of the Planning Regulator with a specific complaint and asked for an investigation into the maladministration of An Bord Pleanála. As I understand it, a decision was taken not to investigate. In such scenarios, there is no possibility for people to appeal decisions not to review. Should people have an ability to appeal or challenge decisions not to carry out a review? I am just using that case as a real world example because it relates to a very credible retired journalist who has a lot of expertise in planning. There were external issues around An Bord Pleanála, including the increased number of judicial reviews the Chair referenced, the number of these that were being upheld and the increased legal costs arising from these reviews. Where people make a complaint and a decision is made not to follow up on it or not to carry out a review, should such people not be allowed to challenge or appeal that decision under the Bill?