Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In order for An Bord Pleanála to fulfil its functions, it has to have the confidence of the public. It is the view of many of us that this confidence has been eroded over the past several years, in part because of some very controversial decisions in contravention of local city and county development plans and, in many cases, the advice of its own inspectors. This has led to the extraordinary situation of Dublin City Council being forced to take judicial reviews on two occasions, with respect to both St. Anne's Park and Salesforce in the docklands, to defend the democratic integrity of the development plan and the strategic development zone there. Therefore, I fully support the Minister in expediting this matter as quickly as possible to restore full public confidence. Can he confirm that the terms of reference will cover all the allegations currently in the public domain? I am not asking him to comment on them but to state that the terms of reference of the senior counsel review will be broad in that nature.

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