Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Mahon tribunal lasted 15 years and cost €159 million in total. It resulted in a 3,270 page report and had a history of quashed findings and reversed cost orders. It was the longest running public inquiry in the history of the State and played a part in the public's diminished belief that accountability could be achieved. The Government has not taken the tribunal seriously. It has only partly incorporated some of its recommendations, while ignoring the rest. It is a poor record for a Government that campaigned for political reform and further damages the public's belief in the accountability of those in power.

Under the current planning Acts, planning has become a complex and convoluted process, leading to a lack of transparency in the sector. There are also a number of concerns about the general scheme of the Planning and Development (No. 2) Bill 2014. I support this Private Member's motion as it brings to light many of those concerns, the most pressing of which is the establishment of a planning regulator. While the general scheme sets out that the planning regulator shall be independent in the performance of his or her functions, in fact, he or she will not be independent. The scheme states the planning regulator should be appointed by the Minister and states the Minister and the planning regulator shall consult together on matters pertaining to the functions of the office. The scheme does not list the bodies that will be regulated by the proposed planning regulator.

In this case, Irish Water is not listed. There are concerns about Irish Water's role in the development and management of spatial strategies. Given that it will have the ability to facilitate, delay or prevent development, how will its decision-making power be made accountable in the context of planning and development? Will Irish Water be accountable to the office of the planning regulator? Head 34 of the scheme contains a proposal to amend legislation to state Irish Water have regard to any opinion of the Minister on the national and regional order of priority to the planning and development requirements of local authority development plans. The concern is that if the planning regulator is not entirely independent of the Government, as stated in the scheme, there is a potential conflict of interest. Will the national spatial strategy and regional planning guidelines have regard to Irish Water and, if so, to what extent?

These questions are not addressed. As such, it is timely that the Private Members' motion forces the Government to answer them. The level of public trust is at a new low. The general scheme was an opportunity to reinvigorate trust in accountable and transparent institutions. The establishment of Irish Water in the first place raised questions about its structure and execution, but the general scheme still does not address how Irish Water will be effectively regulated and incorporated into the planning system. The question is how the public can ever trust public bodies again. I suspect they will not be able to in light of this. Next year's election might reflect this even more.

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