Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

It is difficult to make the transition from the positive debate on the Common Fisheries Policy when I am addressing the wrong Minister. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, stated that the findings of the internal review vindicated the decision of her predecessor, Deputy Penrose, not to rush headlong into appointing seven external planning consultants to embark on a costly open ended inquiry. She was in effect asking the public to trust her Department to investigate because it would do what the independent experts cannot and would not cost a lot of money. I recognise that we have no money but this is completely unsatisfactory. I am surprised at the Labour Party because it would not have accepted such an approach when it was in Opposition.

In the aftermath of the Mahon report, we cannot rebuild confidence in the planning system unless we can offer the transparency and accountability which only come with an independent inquiry. An Taisce's State of the Nation report was damning of local authorities and it is interesting to note that the areas with unfinished housing estates are the same as those with vacant estates. I agree with the president of the Irish Planning Institute when he argues that there are too many planning authorities. This is bound to create inconsistencies in the planning system. The Dublin planning authorities, which were the subject of the Mahon report, came out of An Taisce's report better than others. That tells us something.

I do not buy into the claim in the Fianna Fáil motion that the decision was taken because Fine Gael and the Labour Party control particular councils. This is a philosophy which existed for several decades whereby the construction sector dictated a development approach rather than a real planning system. Planning should be aimed at building communities, land use and transportation planning, matching schools and community facilities to housing development and developing water and sewerage infrastructure to allow for a mix of housing and industry. However, our system of development simply aimed to appease the construction industry, from landowners to developers and auctioneers, and this is what funded politics. Those of us who fought for a strategic approach over the last 20 years were called every name under the sun.

I do not think Fianna Fáil possesses the moral authority to table this motion but I agree with most of it and, therefore, will be supporting it. In response to a submission by the Communities for Sustainable Development in Cork, the Ombudsman produced a lengthy report which found systemic problems in the planning system. These systemic problems will not be solved by an internal inquiry which is nothing more than a whitewash.

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