Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and I support the report published yesterday by the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. This report examined practices in seven local authorities and it sets out actions to be taken by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and at local authority level, to implement actions to improve consistency, enhance transparency and provide greater public confidence in the planning system nationwide.

Before I was re-elected to this House 15 months ago, I was an elected member of Dublin City Council for more than 30 years. During some of that time, Dublin Corporation was controlled by Fianna Fáil and I will come back to that later. The Fianna Fáil Private Members' motion notes that all of the councils which were under review, bar one, were controlled by Labour and Fine Gael. One of the Dublin City Council planning issues being reviewed was the Seán Dunne multistorey development in Ballsbridge and its planning permission was overturned by An Bord Pleanála on the grounds that the permission granted by Dublin City Council exceeded the height guidelines in the Dublin City Council development plan. I fully agree with An Bord Pleanála's decision in that case and I said so at the time. The decisions to grant or refuse permission is a managerial function under the Planning Act. To suggest otherwise is purely a party political charge. Mr. Seán Dunne accompanied the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, as a special guest when Bertie addressed the United States Congress during his final term as Taoiseach.

The Private Members' motion recognises the need, in view of the Mahon tribunal, to rebuild public confidence in the planning and political systems. This must take the prize for breathtaking brass neck, so to speak.

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