Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I move amendment No. 38:

In page 7, to delete lines 46 to 52 and in page 8, to delete lines 1 to 16 and substitute the following:

"(6) The Board shall prepare a report and keep it on public record, of its considerations and deliberations that determined the outcome of its decision under section 37(A).".

This is an important amendment. Many who have gone through the long and protracted process involving An Bord Pleanála are often astounded when they find that, although the inspector has ruled in their favour, the board has ruled against the views voiced by the group involved. This happened recently in the case of the incinerator in Ringaskiddy in Cork and more recently in the case of the Monkstown ring road in Dún Laoghaire. There is often an enormous disconnection between the considered views of the An Bord Pleanála inspector and the final decision of the board. I read through the inspector's views on the Monkstown ring road which ran to 135 pages and he came out strongly against proceeding with the project. However, the board's decision seemed to come from another planet and there seemed to be no connection between the two reports.

It is crucial that people are given some information on how the board comes to a view that may well be different from that of its inspector. We do not just need the final decision of the board, but the reasons for its decision. Just as we can get a copy of the report on a High Court or Supreme Court judgment in which we see the views of the judges represented and details of the various bodies of law examined, we should be able to get a copy of a report detailing how the board comes to its opinion on a particular application. It may, for example, look at national policy on sustainable development or the views of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. Many and various influences come to bear on the board which should be recorded. We need clarity as to the reasons it makes its decision, not just a record of the decision, particularly in cases where there is a significant divergence from the views of its inspector. We need to know how this happens. It is a requirement of European law that the reasons for decisions be made visible and I am mystified as to why the Minister has not seen fit to proceed with this. It is time we included this provision in Irish law.

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