Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Our country is currently facing the greatest housing crisis since the foundation of the State. At the heart of our housing delivery problem and the requirement to increase supply in this precarious market is the application of planning policy. Some 80% of strategic housing development, SHD, grants of planning permission that were judicially reviewed were quashed, primarily because the board went rogue and attempted to apply ministerial guidelines as higher planning policy, completely ignoring 20 years of jurisprudence and the laws laid down by this House. Professional planners and this Government deployed a narrative that it was not they who had caused this problem but the NIMBY objectors who took judicial review proceedings.

Last Friday in a landmark judgment, Cork County Council v. the Minister, the Attorney General and the Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR, laid bare the rot that exists at the heart of the planning system. The judgment filleted the Office of the Planning Regulator and the Department’s planning policy unit. An eminent planning senior counsel described this planning judgment as one of the most accurate and scathing he has seen. What is striking about the judgment is the frustration of Mr. Justice Humphreys at the obvious and fundamental lack of knowledge of the Office of Planning Regulator in respect of the basic legal principles of planning law. At paragraph 30, Mr. Justice Humphreys said of the regulator that, “If the caselaw had been engaged with, the untenability of [his] point would have become apparent.” He continues at paragraph 62 to state, “The attempt by the OPR and the Minister to turbo-charge non-binding guidelines by drawing the conclusion that non-compliance contributed to a conclusion that the council was in breach of s. 10(1) is unfortunately a rewriting of the Act."

I could continue with these damning quotes because they are endless. No planning system or those who operate it could survive such a damning judgment. Thankfully, Cork County Council saw fit to bring proceedings to vindicate its decision and, as a consequence, it has been made plain that it is the regulator and the planning policy unit that are undermining the planning system by making it up as they see fit and consequently we are removing certainty from the system. Having regard to this judgment, the dissemination of unlawful advice by the regulator to local authorities concerning the application of section 28 guidelines will potentially undermine the legality of county development plans and cause further expense to the State in legal proceedings.

What actions is the Government taking to restore confidence to the planning system to ensure that the Office of the Planning Regulator complies with and operates within the law? Further, has the Government confidence in Mr. Cussen to continue in his position as the planning regulator?

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