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

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. The debate over the past two evenings has been interesting. Yesterday evening, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government referred to the Mahon tribunal and said the situation regarding planning has radically changed. He also claimed that the scheme for the new planning Bill will implement the conclusions and recommendations of the Mahon report. There is a number of issues I wish to raise in reply to those statements.

We all recognise that the Mahon tribunal did excellent work in revealing corruption in planning, mainly in the Dublin area, over a certain period. The final cost was massive. It was reported to the Committee of Public Accounts that it cost €103 million. It is therefore only right that the ten recommendations of the Mahon tribunal, as set out at the end of its report, are implemented in full. It is important that we implement them. I am not satisfied that this will be the case, given what we have seen of the Government's proposal, as outlined in the general scheme for the planning (No. 2) Bill.

I do not want to go over the ground touched on last night but, suffice to say, neither our party, Sinn Féin, nor the Irish Planning Institute, which is of the same mind, are satisfied that the office of planning regulator as proposed in the scheme will be as recommended by the Mahon tribunal, especially when it comes to the regulator's independence of the Minister. I am also not satisfied that the planning process is transformed since the time of the Mahon report, as stated by the Minister. It is true that there is not the same level of corruption, but neither is there the same level of construction.

There have been improvements since the time of the rampant construction which occurred when there was an unhealthy relationship between politicians, officials and the developers we had in the past. However, controversy surrounds some recent planning decisions, which reflects badly on the overall process. In particular, I am thinking of the Corrib gas pipeline project and the midlands' wind farm proposals. In both cases, there was widespread opposition and objections on various grounds. There have been objections to wind farms from at least two local authorities but my local authority in Laois and the one in Westmeath were basically ignored.

We also have legacy issues in Wicklow and other counties, which were referred to yesterday evening. These need an inquiry, but I believe such an inquiry would only have credibility if conducted by an office of an independent planning regulator. We must never again have a situation in which developers and their financial backers have the huge influence that they once had over local development plans, rezoning and planning matters. Much of what was built throughout the noughties was an absolute scandal.

One example is the Riverside estate in Portarlington which was built during that period. It was built with little or no drainage. It had an awful design, a terrible layout, awful planning, terrible standards of building and the materials used were substandard. The walls are like sponges. They soak up rain. The rain soaks in through the rendering and there is sponge-like material in the middle. Having purchased at the height of the boom, paid premium prices and despite having mortgages over them, residents have had to abandon their homes. The big apartment blocks in that development are now deserted. The local authority that gave the planning permission, Offaly County Council, did not enforce fully the conditions of planning permission or the minimalist building regulations.

I also wish to refer to the issue of Tymon and the likely conclusion of the Minister's planning initiatives. It was said here yesterday that we would be lucky to see the Bill framed before the end of the year, which is what we were promised by the Minister last night. However, given the normal length of time associated with the drafting process, this is optimistic. Even if we accept the stated timeframe, does the Minister of State not agree that, given it is at its final furlong, the Government has left it very late to legislate for and implement the recommendations in the Mahon report. Further, only three of the ten recommendations in the Mahon report are being implemented, which is not at all good.

The Minister also referred to the other planning Bill, or scheme as it currently is, last night. This deals with construction, housing issues and Part V, and I imagine it will have and is being given priority over the planning regulator Bill.

If the Mahon recommendations, in particular the recommendation on an independent regulator, are not legislated for and expanded prior to a geared up phase of construction, the danger exists that we will run back into the same problems we had in the past. The Minister correctly stated that planning corruption is not a faceless or victimless crime but one that impacts on communities up and down the country. We agree with that statement. However, claiming that the planning process is radically improved since the time of the Mahon tribunal is all very well and good, but it must be ensured through action measures and we must have that action. The key recommendations must be implemented.

The Minister also referred to what he called the organisational review of An Bord Pleanála. What stage is that at and when will it be completed? I do not share the view held by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, that An Bord Pleanála has peerless standards of fairness, probity and transparency. I do not share that same level of faith in An Bord Pleanála. I have raised the issue of conflicts of interest of some members of An Bord Pleanála with the Minister and his predecessor. It is simply not good enough that people who have been involved in framing and backing controversial proposals such as the Dublin waste incinerator can cross over to the other side, as has happened, and approve, as members of An Bord Pleanála, the same measures and plans, even though they had been involved with RPS Consultants.

Similar issues have arisen in relation to wind farms. The Minister, as part of the review of the workings of the planning board, An Bord Pleanála, could make it a rule that former employees of consultants involved in projects, in particular controversial projects, would in the future not be in a position to decide on the planning applications of those same projects.

I want to note as well the Minister's reference to the issue in Wicklow, which was referred to last night. These are very serious issues. A file on the issue in Wicklow and, in particular, the Greystones case, has gone missing from the Minister of State's office. What I want to know and what I was not told by the Minister in his summing up is whether the Garda has been contacted about the matter. If it has, what was the outcome? We do not know but I would like to know. What we do know is that the acquisition of between six and seven acres of prime land zoned for housing was dealt with in an agreement by the two Seánies-----

See this speech in context