Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the journalists from The Ditchfor their continued work in ensuring stories such as this one are brought to public attention.

An Bord Pleanála is an important body in the planning process. It provides an appeals process for planning issues following the principles of natural justice. It is clear, following the recent revelations, that the public have lost confidence in the board. Councils up and down the country are talking about the board, and some councils have passed votes of no confidence in it. The Government must act swiftly to restore public confidence in this important body. It should be properly resourced, transparent and accountable and should follow the highest standards of governance.

The board must be allocated additional staff resources to ensure the planning system can deal with climate-related planning applications such as renewable energy projects. The previous speaker mentioned that also.

It is clear the board is under pressure and is taking too long to make decisions. There are statutory timelines under which local authorities must reach decisions on planning. We need the same for An Bord Pleanála. We need to see a quicker decision time on key infrastructure such as housing, while ensuring there is adequate public consultation.

The Government must establish a stand-alone planning and environmental court to ensure that judicial reviews are heard in a timely manner by judges and court staff who specialise in this area of law. The Government must ensure that our obligations under the Aarhus Convention are followed and that there are no further restrictions on access to the planning system or to the courts. There must be reform in how members of An Bord Pleanála are appointed. We in Sinn Féin favour a hybrid model which mixes nominations from professional bodies with an open competitive recruitment process. We need to see repeal of the mandatory ministerial guidelines introduced by Eoghan Murphy and to restore democratic decision-making to the county development plan process.

The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, must take immediate action to restore public confidence in the work of the board. All reports must be published and there must be a significant change in membership of the board to ensure a fresh start.

See this speech in context