Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For Fine Gael to say that any objection to the national planning framework or to what is contained in it in some way deflects or stands in the way of the development plan is a lie. That lie has been repeated by An Taoiseach, and by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, on "Morning Ireland" the other day. It was repeated by the Minister himself on the "Today with Sean O'Rourke" programme, and it was repeated by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, on "The Week in Politics" on Sunday. It needs to be corrected. The Minister must come into this House and be straight with the Irish people. Amendments to the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016 that is currently going through the Oireachtas were tabled last week, and the Minister talked them down. He must give a commitment. If those amendments are accepted, will he adhere to the spirit of that legislation and put the planning framework before the House, to be adjudicated and passed here? That is the commitment the Minister must make to put an end to the lies I have heard in recent days.

The Government rushed the production of the national planning framework to get it published quickly, so that it could be called Government policy and it would not be subject to the Oireachtas. Last Wednesday, an amendment on this question was before the Seanad. The Government talked it down. The Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy English, was in the Seanad representing the Government on that issue. The Government does not want to adhere to the spirit of the Dáil. It does not want to adhere to the spirit of the amended legislation. It will adhere to the spirit of the legislation if it is not amended, all right-----

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