Ms Oonagh Buckley:

There is, obviously, a very heightened level of scrutiny and awareness within An Bord Pleanála in relation to the declarations process, which was already under way when I started, clearly. That has continued. The new draft code of conduct has not yet been fully adopted because it is out for consultation. That contains additional requirements around the section 147 declarations in particular. We intend to make it mandatory for board members to give us a declaration, including a nil declaration if that is appropriate. Up to now it was not clear that board members had to actually declare that they had no interests. As the Deputy knows, there is discussion about that under the SIPO regulations. We have also included a provision that if there is any significant change in the declaration from year to year, we strongly advise people to give some sort of memo of explanation so that can be checked. That implies, obviously, that we will be checking back and reviewing those.

I have started to do the process of town halls with staff because it is important that they hear from me and that we improve communication within An Bord Pleanála. It was one of the big demands from staff. The second one I held was around the code of conduct and we put some scenarios to the staff present about when declarationf should be made and all that. It is all about enhancing awareness. We are still reliant on staff giving truthful declarations. We cannot be policing them. We do not have a police force in An Bord Pleanála, but we can try to make sure people are fully aware of what they need to do.