Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will address amendments Nos. 74 and 80. Amendment No. 74 in the names of Deputies Cowen and Casey proposes that the planning authority be required to ensure that any interventions by elected members in respect of specific planning applications are noted on the relevant planning file and are made available for public inspection on the planning authority's website. In this regard and in the interests of transparency, the current position is that all observations or submissions made to a planning authority in respect of individual planning applications, as provided for under section 38 of the 2000 Act, be they from the public, prescribed bodies or elected members, are already required to be attached to the relevant planning file which is available for public inspection. I would be concerned by what is meant by the word "interventions" with regard to this amendment as it could be interpreted broadly to include verbal contact, phone calls by the elected member to the planning section regarding a particular planning application, or comments made by an elected member on a planning application at local municipal district meeting as well as a number of other scenarios. My concern about this amendment is not really about the principle of it but about the wording. Perhaps we could look at that and how it is drafted. I agree that we need some clarity here and, at the very least, we need some guidance to planning authorities so that the same standard is applied across the board. Things should not be different with regard to different applications in different local authorities, so we can deal with that, perhaps, if the Deputies agree to look at changed wording or some other way. I accept the principle, just not the wording, if that is okay.

Amendment No. 80 in the names of Deputies Richard Boyd Barrett, Bríd Smith and Gino Kenny relates to the disclosure of political donations made by planning applicants in monetary terms or other form to elected representatives or political parties and making such information publicly available. I acknowledge that this amendment is based on one of the planning related recommendations of the final report of the Mahon Tribunal and I see the merit of the proposal. However, it would be my view that issues relating to political donations generally are probably most appropriately addressed in Standards in Public Office legislation or in the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 which was enacted on 28 July 2012 and which significantly enhanced the openness and transparency of political funding in Ireland, thereby addressing many of the issues that were central to the recommendations made on political finance in the final report of the Mahon tribunal, rather than having specific provision made in the planning code. Accordingly, I am also not in a position to accept this amendment. The Department is of the view that the recommendations are not all to be dealt with by this Bill. There are other ways of doing it and that legislation is the most appropriate place to do that and it makes very public who got donations, so that is there. We think it is dealt with sufficiently there. If the Deputies want to discuss it again, I can talk to them before we complete the passage of this Bill, but we think it is best dealt with in the legislation that is already dealt with.

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