Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dail Eireann" and substitute the following:

"notes that:

— the planning review to assess the application of planning legislation, policy and guidance within the development plan and development management systems at local level and to inform further policy development in these areas has been finalised and its findings have now been published in full;

— the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with special responsibility for housing and planning has made clear her commitment to implement the actions recommended in the review report including independent expert assessment of the report itself and its findings; and

— the review was not, at any point, terminated by the Government, therefore the question of its reinstatement did not arise;

commends the Government's initiative to instruct the Department to undertake the comprehensive planning review, rather than pursue the lengthy and costly route of appointing seven independent consultants to undertake the same task as contemplated by the previous Government;

is confident that the actions recommended in the planning review report will improve the planning system, ensuring greater transparency and consistency across all planning authorities;

welcomes the intention to appoint an independent consultant to review the recommendations contained in the planning review report, and also to consider the broader themes identified in the report and to report to the Minister with additional recommendations as appropriate;

acknowledges the Government's commitment to restoring public confidence in the planning system and to undoing the damage done to the reputation of the planning system by past actions and incidents of corruption; and

supports the Government's commitment to implement the recommendations contained in the planning review report and also welcomes the Government's commitment to act comprehensively on the recommendations contained in the report of the Mahon tribunal."

As the Minister of State with responsibility for planning and housing, I am pleased to discuss this important issue. First, I wish to respond to some of the issues that have already been raised. I think the Fianna Fáil Party has been misinformed about what has been published today. I am appointing an independent planning expert to review the 12 recommendations that were published today, as well as to examine six further themes. That independent planning expert will be free to go back to any of the issues that are in this report. There is, therefore, a misunderstanding in relation to that, because I am appointing an independent expert.

Second, a number of Fianna Fáil speakers referred to the seven local authorities as being controlled by Fine Gael and Labour. It is extraordinary to hear Fianna Fáil people coming out in relation to planning in view of the Mahon report and all that has happened. I know my colleagues will address this in more detail. To be clear, it was the former Minister, John Gormley, who selected those seven local authorities. We are completing the review that was intended by Mr. Gormley.

See this speech in context