Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)

I will drive on as far as I can, a Cheann Comhairle, and we will go for the spuds then.

My understanding of planning has developed into three fundamental aspects, namely, precedence, consistency and transparency. This Bill rubbishes those three fundamental aspects. Planning permission for a one-off house was once dependent on site suitability. Unfortunately, it now depends on the suitability of the person. The only people applying for planning permissions at present are those who can get the funding to build houses, while the speculative element is gone from planning applications.

I know a gentleman near me who has been refused planning permission to build a house near the local GAA pitch. He gives four nights per week in the pitch training the under tens, the under 12s and the "B" team, while he plays with the "C" team. He was refused planning because he was from the next townland, one mile away. There was no problem with the design of the house or with the soil conditions. I spoke to the director of planning and to the county manager. The application has been resubmitted and we will go to An Bord Pleanála with it, because I imagine the council will refuse it again. This will go to the end of the line, because unfortunately An Bord Pleanála is the end of the line. Some say we can go for a judicial review, but the man that wants to build a four bedroom bungalow does not have the finances for such a move. He has been treated very unfairly in this case.

I have given just one example, but there are many more. I get very frustrated when talking about planning permission. I once put a motion before the local authority, when I was on the county council, seeking a list of agents and the number of applications they made on behalf of applicants, their success rate, how many were returned unaccepted, and how many were refused or granted. I sought a list system because there are some rogue agents out there dealing with planning permission whose qualifications are limited. Some of them are charging up to €3,500 or €4,000 to young applicants for houses. The ordinary lay person knows nothing about planning permission.

I wish to deal with the issue of transparency. Local authority planners are bosses within the planning system and applicants are begging. They are nearly made to feel that they must send a thank-you note to the planner when they receive planning permission. We have to get away from that.

On one occasion, a member of An Taisce asked me why I made so many representations on planning applications. They were insisting that there should be a code of conduct for councillors regarding submissions on planning applications. However, I questioned the code of conduct within An Taisce. Over the years, I have made many submissions on behalf of applicants for planning permission. I saw myself as a conduit between the planner and the applicant. We even had agents in County Kerry who, once the application went in for planning permission, wrote back to the applicant to tell them to get on to their local councillor or Deputy to follow this up. They were abdicating their responsibility, yet they were getting €3,500 or €4,000.

Some years ago, I also put a motion before the local authority proposing that serial objectors should have to pay €200, rather than €20, to object to a planning application. There are serial objectors in my area and I am sure every Member of this House knows such people in their own areas. I know of a serial objector who took €25,000 in cash to withdraw an objection to planning permission for two family members on a holding. A lot of these people are aligned and associated with An Taisce and the Green Party. It is ironic that a Green Minister is bringing this Bill before us because he is centralising power to himself. He is making the local authority's role in planning permission irrelevant by centralising the whole system.

I firmly believe, however, that something needs to be done with serial objectors who have cashed in and made people's lives a misery when they try to apply for planning permission. I was almost thrown out of the local authority once because I named a man who was a serial objector. I described him as a parasite, which is a person who thrives on and lives off another's misery. The owners of a family holding were trying to get planning permission for their daughter, but on five occasions this man objected. The killing thing about it, however, is that the man lived 50 miles away. There was no reason in the world why the planning permission, if granted, would upset or interfere in any way with his quality of life. However, the objector had a personal gripe with the landowner and cost that man a fortune. The woman of the house actually had a breakdown because of it. That is why I called him a parasite.

In my area some years ago, an old hotel had gone to ruin and an application was made for a new hotel. A man from Canada objected to it, however, and stopped it from going ahead. It could only happen in this country. The council granted permission, yet this man from Canada objected. I do not know if he was ever in the area, but he paid €20 to stop the development of a hotel with a potential to create 80 to 100 jobs. The jobs would have been seasonal, but very welcome in that area nonetheless. That is fundamentally wrong. I hope the Minister will provide for a sense of fairness and transparency in the Bill.

Some of my colleagues referred earlier to An Bord Pleanála but my understanding is that not all the board's members are planners. To the best of my knowledge, those who are - funnily enough - are urban planners. When a planning file is appealed to An Bord Pleanála, an inspector will come to inspect on behalf of the board and writes up recommendations. For instance, the inspector may write a recommendation to grant the relevant planning application. That recommendation goes before An Board Pleanála and those sitting around the table, who have not visited the site, will refuse the inspector's report. How many times have Deputies seen that happen? Is that logical and does it make sense? I would like somebody to explain that to me.

Alternatively, an inspector may inspect a site and the planning file, and then recommend a refusal, yet the board will grant it. Some people say to me - but I would not be that narrow-minded - that maybe there are members of the board who are taking money. Perhaps there are members of An Bord Pleanála who are taking money, because they have never visited the site-----

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