Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am talking about the Office of the Planning Regulator investigating his colleagues, which is clearly what it is. That is what I am outlining. It is not appropriate. The fact we have this investigation ongoing is not appropriate.

I ask the Leas-Cheann Comhairle to take our exchange into account if I take longer to explain what I am trying to say. The Minister of State is well aware that we could have a situation arise again as to the transparency of that investigation. We heard what Deputy Paul Murphy said in the context of all the people he named. There were 20 at least and there did not appear to be an issue, but when we mention someone who was a colleague of these people, it may give rise to an issue. It certainly does not instil the trust and confidence of the planning system, of which I believe the Minister of State is quite aware.

The premise of the regulator, and this is a fact, is that viability is not a planning consideration. The Government's planning policy leaves developers with two choices: to build to meet the conditions set down by the regulator or not build at all. This means developers have not been building, which has mainly contributed to the lack of housing supply along with the failure of the Minister and the Department to recognise the problem. The planning system is a mess. The system of objections, appeals, and judicial reviews needs to be streamlined so as not to benefit serial objectors or deprive citizens of their say while ensuring the Government operates within the law and delivers the much-needed housing required. If this is not addressed, our housing supply will not recover to the levels required to solve the problems that exist.

There are thousands of people now homeless. There are no places for students to live while going to college. Yesterday, PhD students said they are sleeping in tents on the grounds of Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin. Neither are there houses for the immigrant workforce we need to take up the jobs we cannot fill with the local workforce. All of this can be traced back to the planning policy of this Government and those before it.

The most recent controversy surrounding An Bord Pleanála has damaged trust in An Bord Pleanála and the entire system. The deputy chair resigned in August, and due to the ongoing investigation into the possible conflicts of interest that went undeclared, I shall refrain from commenting further on the specifics at this time. Regardless of the outcome, this should be the catalyst for reflection on the role of An Bord Pleanála and the state of the planning system as a whole. I hope we do not have to continue spending hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money on judicial reviews because the Department was sitting on its hands and ignoring the basics of the problem.

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