Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to offer concluding remarks on behalf of the Government. The debate over last night and tonight on this Private Member's motion confirms the universal consensus emerging from all sides of this House to broadly acknowledge the mistakes of the past as exposed through the tribunal report and accept that such mistakes must never again be allowed to be witnessed in our planning process. This debate has provided both the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, and me with the opportunity to dispel any doubts there may be in the minds of the Opposition on the Government's commitment to good planning and also to demonstrate the extensive array of legislative and policy development work we are advancing to ensure that the inadequate standards in the past are consigned to history. Current and future planning will be community centred rather than developer led; place-making rather than development centred, and wise about the use of scarce resources, whether economic, environmental or social.

The Minister has spoken about the establishment of the independent office of the planning regulator. The regulator will represent a significant new development in the already extensive institutional landscape that oversees public bodies including local authorities and An Bord Pleanála. The regulator will oversee the functioning of an effective, responsive, visionary, transparent and publicly accountable planning system that is not only a fundamental requirement but a prerequisite for a modern successful economy like Ireland's. A constant theme in the contributions last night related to the expressed view of Deputies of the need for an independent and accountable planning regulator. We heard that again here this evening. In this regard and in framing the Government's response, I have had to be very mindful of the need to carefully integrate the role of the regulator into the existing roles of other regulatory bodies including SIPO, the Office of the Ombudsman, An Garda Síochána and my role as Minister of State. Indeed, I would suspect that I would be even more sharply criticised by Opposition Deputies if I were to create overlap or confusion by randomly adding another public body to an already crowded institutional landscape or, more critically, if I were to hand effective overall control of the policy making aspects of the planning process to unelected officials with no democratic mandate or duty to defend difficult decisions at local and community levels.

I am at a loss to understand how Opposition Deputies are claiming that the regulator will not be independent. It is a fact that the office of the planning regulator will be fully independent of the Minister in carrying out its functions. The regulator will, subject to the passage of the legislation by the Oireachtas, be a fully-fledged regulator who can initiate organisational reviews and monitor the performance of planning authorities and do so independently. The regulator will not have to wait for the instruction of the Minister of the day. As Minister of State, I am determined to ensure that the office of the planning regulator will be the independent guardian of the overall capacity for beneficial change and operational effectiveness of our planning system. The regulator will take on a very specific role, independently of the Minister, through its oversight of the planning functions of planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála.

There has been recognition by some Opposition Deputies in this debate of the critical need for democratic accountability for the office of the planning regulator. This recognition is underpinned by the significantly important and well-established reserved function of our locally elected members who are empowered to guide the preparation and adoption of local development plans in the interest of their local communities while also ensuring consistency with proper planning and sustainable development locally, regionally and nationally. Thereafter, when these local level development plans are assessed by an independent planning regulator, it will be done entirely independent of the Minister taking proper account of the policy and legislative planning framework put in place by the Minister. As a prescribed body, the regulator will be engaging directly with the local planning authorities on the evolution of these plans from their initiation through publication at draft and amended draft stage without any intervention by the Minister. It is only where the regulator considers a planning authority is not complying with its assessment and relevant strategic or national level considerations that it will request the direct intervention of the Minister.

The Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, and, I suspect, many Opposition Deputies are of the view that if the decision of democratically elected local councillors are to be overturned, the person responsible for that power should also be democratically accountable. Otherwise, we would be consigning effective control of all development plan policy matters in one sweep to an unelected official with no democratic mandate whatsoever. The Minister and I will also ensure that the office of the planning regulator can and will conduct independent reviews of planning authorities from time to time as it deems necessary or as may be requested by ourselves as Ministers for the purposes of review of the relevant organisation's systems and procedures in relation to the performance of its functions under the planning Acts.

In conclusion, I note that the Government is determined to face up to the errors of its predecessors by driving forward positive reform of the planning system because we believe in planning as a way to achieve prosperity, equality and sustainability for our citizens. The Minister and I look forward to working with the House in the coming months on delivering an efficient, more effective, fit for purpose, well-functioning and fair planning system that learns from the mistakes of the past and provides the foundation for the future progress and prosperity of our country.

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