Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is beyond dispute that the massive problems faced by ordinary families throughout the country have in large part been caused by the toxic relationship between politicians, developers and bankers. The report of the Mahon tribunal lays bare to all of us the extent to which this toxic relationship extended to the planning process. Several modules of the Mahon tribunal focused on irregular planning decisions in the town of Swords, the largest town in my constituency of Dublin North. While some 25 years ago Swords was a village in North County Dublin it is now a vibrant town with a population equivalent to that of Waterford city.

It is sad that a Swords resident who wishes to map the transformation of the town will have to refer to the Mahon report for a record of how certain planning decisions were made, which decisions were made against the advice of county managers and other local councillors. Swords is a town still coming to terms with the infrastructure needed for a town of its size. This is a direct cause of the decisions made by some corrupt councillors 20 years ago.

The Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, used the phrase this week in the House "a chronicle of betrayal, ignominy and disgrace" to describe the final report of the Mahon tribunal. Six words to describe a 14 year, multi-million euro investigation into all that was rotten in Irish politics at all levels and to describe the root of a problem, the branches of which stretch to poorly developed communities, inadequate infrastructure, ghost estates and a plethora of related problems for ordinary people.

I represent the constituency of Dublin North, which along with the west of Dublin, was the focal point of the Mahon tribunal's investigations. It was common knowledge among those with an interest in local politics that certain councillors were on the take and that the rezoning of certain areas of North County Dublin were the result of corrupt activities and inappropriate payments. As a political activist in the 1990s, I was aware of what was going on. It seemed to me everyone was aware it. The phrase "The Dogs on the Street" comes to mind.

While the Labour Party was fighting elections to the council and Dáil on shoestring budgets, largesse was being thrown about by politicians we knew were on the take. Following a series of tribunals, this is now official and denial is no longer possible. It took the heavy scrutiny of the tribunal inquiries, supported by members of the public, strong people in the media and upstanding public representatives, to finally bring the grubby practices of corrupt councillors and developers to light. In my constituency of Dublin North, Labour Party councillors led the charge against questionable rezonings. Former Deputy Séan Ryan and Mr. Tom Kelleher were very strong in their opposition to the corrupt rezonings. It is encouraging to read it being reflected a number of times in the Mahon report that they sponsored motions to undo the damage of the rezoning coalition partners. Councillors Ken Farrell and Bernie Malone also fought the good fight against the corrupt rezonings. I am proud of my constituency colleagues in all of these matters.

It is important for the public to know that even 20 years ago there were good honest public representatives from all parties discharging their duties honourably. The Labour Party did not need costly tribunals, media scrutiny or the heavy weight of public moral force to act against corrupt or inappropriate planning. We voiced our outrage at the time. We expelled the lone wrongdoer in our midst, which the public record reflects. I am disappointed, therefore, that the media coverage of the Mahon report this week is slow to acknowledge this and give us the credit we deserve. Deputy Clare Daly attempted in her contribution to link the Labour Party to the problem by reference to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, who was commended by Mahon. Her comments in this regard were beyond belief.

The Mahon report states that the corrupt and the corruptible will inevitably gravitate to the weakest link in the chain of anti-corruption measures. The task before us is, therefore, to ensure there is no weak link, no area which can be exploited by those who wish to place profit above the public good. The report contains many recommendations, one of which is that any politician found guilty of taking bribes be stripped of his or her lucrative pension. This recommendation should be implemented as soon as possible. The Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 needs to be extended to cover those found guilty of taking bribes. It is an affront to the ordinary people of Ireland that former public representatives are in receipt of public pensions having being found guilty of corrupt practices. I believe this recommendation when implemented should be extended to include those guilty of having misled a tribunal, those found to have told untruths and those who have failed to explain vast sums of money in their accounts. It is not acceptable that a former Taoiseach cannot explain the source of £215,000 yet continues to draw more than €2,000 per week from the public purse as part of his Rolls Royce pension. With each pension payment cashed, it is the proverbial two fingers to the Irish people. The Irish people are suffering enough. They do not need this insult added to their injury. While the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, intends to introduce changes in this regard through the proposed Public Sector Pensions Bill I understand these measures cannot be retrospective, which is unfortunate.

The core area wherein corruption of the planning process took place was local government, which is the area on which many of report's recommendations focus. Corruption's natural home is in the shadows, unseen and hidden. As citizens, we need to shine a light on all our public representatives, including our councillors. While legislative changes have wrested some powers away from councillors vis-À-vis planning, the lesson that must be learned is that there must be greater engagement between local councillors and the people they represent. This is a two way-street. The people need to place their councillors under the same scrutiny as they do local gardaí, teachers and Dáil representatives. More needs to be done to link the public with their local councillors.

Arguably, the most talked about Government policy of the past number of weeks has been the household charge. Now is not the time to debate that issue although it is worth pointing out that the charge and the subsequent property tax to replace it next year are taxes which will fund local authorities. Previously, local authority funding came directly from central taxes, which I believe led to a certain disconnect between the public and their local authority. The fact that people will now be paying directly for their local services will lead to an even greater connection between people and their local council and councillors. I believe that those politicians who are opposing the introduction of local charges and property taxes at this time are mere political opportunists, engaged in cynical populism. I would certainly like to also see an end to that in Irish politics.

The report states that gaps in transparency and accountability have been reduced, although not eliminated. We all need to work to eliminate these gaps. One recommendation of the report is that anyone seeking a planning permission for a property be required to declare on their application form if they have donated more than €55 to a councillor. Why €55? I would go further and require that such person should declare any donation to a councillor and that this be extended to Deputies. While since the abolition of the dual mandate Deputies have no statutory relationship with the local authorities they can have relationships with their party colleagues on the council. Also, Deputies who were formerly councillors may have strong relationships with council officials. People should be aware, as are Members of this House, that council officials rather than councillors grant individual planning permissions. Councillors are responsible for zoning.

If we are to really tackle corruption, we should not be naive to the realities of political and party relationships. Political corruption is not a victimless crime. The victims are too many to name and cut across gender, class, religion and creed. The victims of these crimes are the families without promised crèche facilities or schools, the children without libraries, the communities without sports facilities or bus routes. I meet these people every day in my advice centres and on the streets of North County Dublin. Swords has a population of more than 50,000 people. It is still catching up to the demands foisted upon it by corrupt and totally irresponsible rezoning 20 years ago. Schools are overcrowded and oversubscribed, public transport is stretched to the bone and anti-social behaviour is on the rise. These are today's problems but the roots can be traced back to those councillors on Dublin County Council who took grubby little bribes from seedy developers. Those few councillors sold out the people of Swords and North County Dublin, who are still paying the price.

I welcome this report and hope that it will mark the beginning of the end of corruption in Irish politics. As Members of this House, we must implement the recommendations of this report and so quickly.

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