Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

While we await the completion of the work of the tribunal, the Government has not been slow to put in place reforms to protect the openness, probity, fairness and efficiency in the operation of the planning system. To this end, we have introduced various new measures to improve the openness and transparency, a few of which I will outline. For instance, the Planning and Development Act 2000 extended the existing rules relating to ethics for planning authority staff. It also introduced more opportunities for public consultation and scrutiny of both zoning decisions and the grant of individual planning permissions, and it increased political oversight of the system of development contributions.

As well as changes to the planning code, there have been significant developments in the legislative and regulatory framework governing the conduct of public representatives and public servants. In so far as local government is concerned, the Local Government Act 2001 provided a new and comprehensive ethics framework for local government employees and councillors. As its starting point, the Act provides that it is the duty of every councillor and employee to maintain proper standards of integrity, conduct and concern for the public interest. The framework is based on three basic requirements, first, an annual declaration of a wide range of interests, second, disclosure of any pecuniary or beneficial interest in a matter coming before the authority and, third, a public register of these interests. There is also a requirement to disclose interests in any matter which arises in the performance of functions by the local authority and in which the councillor or employee concerned or a connected person has an interest. Failure to comply with the key requirements of this legislation is an offence and the penalties concerned have been set at a high level to achieve a clear deterrent effect.

In addition, separate national codes of conduct for local authority employees and councillors were published under the Act in 2004. Their purpose is to set out standards and principles of conduct and integrity, to inform the public of the conduct it is entitled to expect and to enhance public trust and confidence in the local government system.

Of course, we already had the Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act 1999, as amended, which sets out comprehensive requirements on the size and disclosure of political donations. The Local Government Act 2001 is bolstered by other public service-wide ethics legislation.

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