Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would be very slow to comment on any content in the Remy Farrell report or any of the allegations that have arisen. Due process will take effect and we need to be cognisant of that in this debate. Nonetheless, it is fair to register on the record our concerns regarding some of those allegations. The public must have trust in our planning system. People must trust in the impartiality and integrity of the system if it is to function sustainably. We need to ask ourselves a fundamental question, which is whether that environment and culture of integrity and faith exist at present among the public. The honest answer is "Probably not", as faith in the agency has undoubtedly been shaken.

To that end, I welcome the interim steps the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State have taken. I welcome their sanctioning of a further 24 posts at An Bord Pleanála, with a commitment to review its staffing resources shortly. That is much needed and long overdue. We must ask ourselves whether a system that can take anything up to 18 months to deal with a one-off housing appeal is fit for purpose. Given the current inflationary cycle, the price of building a house could increase twofold by the time a decision is adjudicated upon. We need an appeal process that is quick, fair and transparent, not one that facilitates prevarication and sleepless nights for people looking to build a home.

The thing that irks me the most about the current appeals process is that I find myself actively discouraging people from appealing refusals on their own submissions, as it is not justifiable to appeal a decision and then sit and wait for 12 to 18 months for it to be reviewed. It is far more appropriate, and sometimes more economical of time, to revert back to local authorities, if possible, to address concerns. In such cases, I ask myself afterwards whether I gave the right advice to those people. Hindsight is a great thing but one never knows at the time what is best. No public representative should be in the position of having actively to discourage people from going through a perfectly legal and sound appeals process because it could cost the person too much time. That highlights one of the main problems we have with An Bord Pleanála and is key to the question of whether it is fit for purpose.

I understand the review by the Attorney General, which the Government has undertaken for the past 12 months, will come before Members shortly. The one thing on which I disagree with Deputy Cian O'Callaghan is on his point about taking our time on this. Yes, it is important to take the necessary time, but it needs to be done quickly because we are facing a massive challenge in the next few years in terms of green and renewable energy. Let us face it, a lot of the projects in question are contentious and cause considerable concern to people locally. We need a board or another agency that is fit to deal with the large number of applications that are likely to come before it in the next few years. As I have outlined before, any process that takes two, three or four years for some of these developments to progress is not fit for purpose. If we are sincere about challenging the energy crisis we face and converting as much as possible to renewable and green energy, we need a vehicle that is able to streamline applications and prioritise projects that will help us to get out of this energy crisis.

Under An Bord Pleanála's own guidelines, members and staff are subject to its code of conduct and its internal grievance and disciplinary procedures. As of now, I understand the Minister has no role in such matters relating to staff or members of the board. When it comes to any future legislative changes and any organisational changes that may be addressed in the review, it is imperative that there be avenues for the Minister of the day to intervene where there may be cases of impropriety or question marks about any board member.

An Bord Pleanála must be adequately resourced. I welcome the sanctioning of an initial 24 additional staff but, in the long term, we probably need multiples of that if we are to have an efficient and transparent appeals process. Decisions must be expedited, particularly in the area of green and renewable energy. We cannot have a situation where people go on waiting endlessly and facing missed appeal dates only to get new letters giving another appeal date that will undoubtedly not be met. We need to ensure transparency. A number of speakers referred to two board members sitting and adjudicating on what sometimes were large decisions. We must put an end to that practice and ensure full transparency in all activities of the board.

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