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

We have been asking at the Business Committee for several weeks for statements on An Bord Pleanála. New allegations have been coming out week after week in respect of undeclared conflicts of interest and irregularities regarding the appointment of board members. There have also been also allegations that board members made changes to independent inspector's reports and overruled the vast majority of cases with regard to specific types of applications. There are also allegations that files were not randomly allocated to board members, that two board members in particular acted as a team in a large number of planning decisions and that there were multiple alleged breaches of the board's code of conduct. The report the Minister ordered is due on Thursday, which would be a good day to have statements on An Bord Pleanála. It would also provide an opportunity for the Minister to clarify when he first became aware of these allegations, what action will be taken on foot of the report he commissioned and how the Government will ensure that all the allegations that are in the public domain will be properly investigated.

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