Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Serious allegations have been made about a conflict of interest on the part of a member of An Bord Pleanála. Minutes from a meeting of the board show that, on 9 March, the deputy chairman of the board presided over a three-person board meeting that rejected a strategic housing development planning application. Both the Irish Examinerand The Ditch website have reported that this member of the board failed to declare a conflict of interest, as shown in the minutes, even though he has a 25% stake in the company that owns a site just 50 m from the site of the planning application. Given these serious allegations, An Bord Pleanála, at the very least, should make a comment on them and respond to them. Does the Taoiseach think it is acceptable that An Bord Pleanála has had nothing at all to say about this? Will he call on An Bord Pleanála to respond to these allegations and make a comment?

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