Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to debate the following urgent matter of national importance, namely, the need for an urgent investigation by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, into the serious question marks hanging over the process which allowed Dublin City Council arrive at a decision to grant permission for the development of the Jury's site in Ballsbridge. The Taoiseach referred in his speech to the property bubble which has developed over the past ten years. Inherent in this is a distortion of the planning process whereby planning decisions are influenced by dependence on development levies in order to fund local government activities. This is unsustainable and I call on the Government to initiate an independent investigation under the auspices of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to investigate the flawed process by which Dublin City Council arrived at this decision and in order to make recommendations to avoid such a problem arising in the future.

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