Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to have this debate today. It is vital because, as all present are aware, the planning system is at the heart of everything we do and, right now, there is an urgent need to restore trust in that system. Planning objectives and decisions impact on every person and town in Ireland. The planning system decides where we live, the type of houses and apartments we live in, how we get to work and where those employment locations will be. It decides the location of our places for education, public services and community and recreational activities, as well as how our towns grow and how we relate to those towns. It goes well beyond our built environment. Planning must also protect, preserve and restore our natural environment and be to the forefront in climate action and protecting our water quality and biodiversity. Without a reliable, resourced and functional planning system, we will fail to build the houses we need to build for our people. Without it, we will fail to build the transport links that are needed or to deliver renewable energy infrastructure, schools and employment opportunities. We will fail to address our climate challenge and fail future generations as we destroy our environment. The planning system is an essential step in the delivery of those objectives. The planning system needs to be trustworthy. The decisions from local authorities and An Bord Pleanála have multiple impacts on families, residents and individuals. The decisions impact on local areas, as well as entire communities or regions, both in the short term and for decades into the future. The decisions are based on a hierarchy of planning objectives from the highest level in the national planning framework, such as compact growth, decarbonisation and regional balance, to the lowest effective level in county development or local area plans, down to the more granular detail applicable to the objectives for that county or town. Trust in the planning system is not obtained as a result of getting or not getting the decision one wants. Rather, it is earned through consistency and adherence to the principles of sustainability and proper planning, with the common good to the fore in all those decisions.

Trust in planning is earned through the democratic process of elected public representatives to agree objectives in those national, regional, county and local development plans and trust is earned by public participation through consultation and public submissions to craft those development plans, and through public observations submitted on planning applications based on the democratically agreed objectives for our towns, counties or regions.

Trust in the planning system was badly eroded by the introduction of strategic housing developments, SHDs, in 2017. It eliminated a vitally important stage in public participation and local democracy in planning. Despite the findings of the Mahon tribunal which exposed endemic political interference and corruption in land zoning and decision making from a generation before, the SHD legislation appears to have created greater damage to trust in politics and planning. Thankfully SHD applications have been ended by this Government, which is a positive move, and we have replaced it with a new system called large scale residential development. That restores the decision making back to local authorities and enables vitally important public participation at that stage.

A further concern on erosion of trust in the planning system and local planning objectives is the use of the specific planning policy requirements, SPPRs. They were introduced under section 28 ministerial guidelines and they can and often do run roughshod over locally agreed planning objectives especially in relation to height and design standards. The SPPRs have recently been criticised by many professional planners. Indeed the Irish Planning Institute has called for them to be revoked. That is something we need to look at closely. We need to carry out research to see what the impact of revoking the SPPRs would be.

Those who are privileged with the responsibility to make planning decisions that shape our towns and cities also have a critical role in protecting trust in the planning system. The recent allegations regarding members of An Bord Pleanála have further eroded trust in the planning system. It is important that these allegations are investigated quickly and thoroughly and that the findings and recommendations of any investigations are acted on effectively by this Government and by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien.

As allegations began to surface and were reported in the media in regard to some decisions of board members at An Bord Pleanála the Minister appointed senior counsel to carry out an investigation entitled Report into the Management of Conflicts of Interest and Relevant Disclosures by the Deputy Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála in Regard to Certain Decisions of the Board and Related Matters. My Green Party colleagues and I were of the very strong view at the time that the investigation needed to be swift and thorough and to report back within an short timeframe. I am satisfied that the Minister took this view on board in his actions. The report was commissioned in April and finally agreed in May to be completed by July when it was given to the Minister who immediately sent a copy of it to the Attorney General for legal advice. I understand the Attorney General advised the report be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, and the Minister, acting on that advice, referred it to the DPP, the Garda Commissioner and the Standards in Public Office, SIPO. It is now a matter for the DPP as to whether a criminal prosecution should be undertaken arising from the findings of the report. It is vitally important for the restoration of trust in our planning system and in the public interest that the report is published as soon as possible. Indeed all of the investigations and the reports must be investigated as soon as possible. I understand the Minister has received the advice of the DPP which is to await the Garda investigation. I stand by that sensible advice.

We need all of these investigations to be completed thoroughly and published. When that is completed I suggest that we scrutinise them in the Oireachtas committee. I know the Minister would be open to that. To begin the process of rebuilding confidence the Minister has outlined measures he intends to take and is seeking engagement with the committee and others on these measures which will include the independent organisational review of An Bord Pleanála by the Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR, with senior counsel and independent planning experts from other jurisdictions and a new appointment process for board members. Other measures underway include a review of the code of conduct of An Bord Pleanála being undertaken by the board, the cessation of two-person decision-making panels, an internal review to determine any revision of processes pertaining to the allocation of files, decision procedures and amendments to inspectors' reports. It is also intended that a senior legal advisor will be appointed to An Bord Pleanála to support these measures.

The Minister has communicated with me as chair of the Oireachtas committee and has given an undertaking to furnish the reports to the committee pending the advice of the DPP. There will be further engagement with the committee and with officials from the Department. We will participate in the procedures to address matters at An Bord Pleanála. I issued an invitation on behalf of the committee members to the chair of An Bord Pleanála, Mr. David Walsh, and I expect Mr. Walsh to appear as a matter of urgency at the committee. I expect that the committee with the agreement of the members will also invite the Office of the Planning Regulator to appear at an appropriate time in relation to its review of An Bord Pleanála.

It is a priority and in the best interests of everyone in our country that issues at An Bord Pleanála are addressed quickly, that malfeasance if any is identified and that anyone who has been found to have not acted in the best interest of the people and for proper planning is removed and appropriate actions taken against such persons. It is important at the same time to recognise that there are good people working hard throughout that organisation and it is critical to the future of planning in this country. There are good planners and staff in our local authorities in forward planning, developing local and county plans voted on by councillors. There are professionals across the planning system who act in the best interest of society for sustainability and the common good. There are good people working through the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on policy and legislation consistently to improve the planning system. Those people need to be acknowledged, supported and protected from those who give planning a bad name. It is important that there is a robust system in place that identifies and holds those accountable that seek local planning objectives and zonings that are against the advice of council chief executives, senior planners, the planning regulator and against the advice of professional transport planners in transport agencies.

It may be suggested that non-compliance with advice is minor or insignificant, however there is a cumulative impact from these decisions that manifests many years later through lack of local services, school places, transport deficits and a general poor quality of life for people who have to live in those areas. Many of us in this Chamber may have sat through county development plan processes where poor decisions are made and advice is dismissed; where a lobbyist or individual landowner's gain may be beneficial to a councillor or party but that comes at the expense further down the road in the form of flooding, car dependency and lack of access to services for future residents. I only wish more residents had the time and opportunity to witness and attend a county development plan vote. Planning is not an exact science but paying heed to professional advice is rarely a bad idea.

The planning system is currently under review by the Attorney General and the Oireachtas committee has met on four occasions with senior departmental staff to engage with the review of the system. The committee will have a full part to play in the legislative changes that may arise from the Attorney General's review with the expectation that legislation will be ready over the coming months. This aligns with the programme for Government commitment to "review and reform the judicial review process, so that such reforms come into effect upon the establishment of the Environmental and Planning Law Court, while always adhering to our EU law obligations under the Aarhaus Convention". It is critical to the future of our country and to the overarching infrastructural energy, transport, housing and development needs to address climate breakdown, that there is a fully functional, trustworthy, accountable and resourced planning system both at local authority and An Bord Pleanála level. The system must enshrine the principles of proper planning, sustainable development and the common good in all decisions. Those decisions, regardless of who makes them, must be taken with integrity, honesty and independence and be capable of standing up to scrutiny at every stage. Public trust must be restored and planning must be seen for the benefit it brings to all, now and for future generations.

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