Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

These events were akin to what took place in Mississippi under Governor Huey Long. The councillors in question had to go to the High Court in 2007 to uphold their democratic mandate. It is clear that certain people were prepared to go to great lengths to shut up these councillors and conceal what was going on. It is sometimes claimed that shortcuts in the planning process can bring benefits to local governance and job creation. This is called benign corruption. However, it is clear that the opposite occurred in the Wicklow and elsewhere. A proposal to build a data centre in Newtownmountkennedy which would have brought a considerable number of jobs to County Wicklow was abandoned amidst questionable procedures and complications in the process. So frustrated were the people behind this project that they subsequently built the centre in Athenry, County Galway. Questions also arise for Wicklow County Council in regard to dumping and improper procurement processes, in respect of which the council has been fined. It is vital that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government holds a full inquiry and makes the results public. I would also like the Minister to outline the reasons why the former county manager was not allowed to serve a further three years in the position. Was that due to the Minister's refusal to sanction an extension based on his knowledge of the issues arising? A tepid review was undertaken by the then Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, as opposed to the investigation put in train by a previous Minister, John Gormley.

This Government has not done much to pursue its promised democratic revolution by introducing transparency to the planning process. While John Gormley was still Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in the Fianna Fáil-Green Party coalition, he began the process of establishing inquiries into planning in six local authorities. However, these inquiries were abandoned by a later Minister, Phil Hogan, who established reviews rather than inquiries. It was decided on foot of the reviews that there were insufficient grounds for a full inquiry. This issue has been discussed on numerous occasions but we have still not heard an explanation as to why a full inquiry was not carried out.

The then Minister, Phil Hogan, explained the failure to follow the approach instigated by John Gormley by claiming that it would have placed too much power into the hands of the Minister. Ironically, the planning Bill which the Government now proposes to introduce will have precisely that effect by establishing an office of planning regulator which is subject to the overall rule and veto of a Minister. We ask the Government to make good on its commitment by bringing forward legislation for an independent planning regulator, with similar powers to the Ombudsman. Sometimes allegations are not true but we know there has been considerable corruption in the planning process and in the zoning of land by local authorities, including material contraventions and planning permissions granted under Part 8 and Part 10. There may at times be good reasons for planning decisions but the documents I have seen lead me to suspect serious irregularities in the planning process in this State. We need to put that right and stand over it. People who are doing the right thing have nothing to fear from an open and transparent system. We must make the planning process more accountable by instilling trust in the process of local government and in the planning system. The Government's amendment does not provide the openness we need in this process.

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