Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Certainly, we will work with colleagues in the Government and across the House to ensure we have effective reforms of our planning system. Everyone wants to see a fit for purpose planning system. I spoke on the Bill the Government have introduced on Second Stage debate last week, but our concern is that while it is a mammoth Bill and the third largest in the history of the State, as the Minister has said, there seems to be very little by way of the radical reform that is necessary to overhaul procedures in An Bord Pleanála. We cannot lose this opportunity to ensure real progress is made on this Bill. I welcome the Minister’s commitment to work with me on the issue of the need for a stand-alone offence. I believe there are difficulties with using the existing criminal justice legislation to tackle this sort of corruption. I should say that some decades ago, the Labour Party exposed planning corruption and the cash-for-planning scandals in the planning system.

At the time, unfortunately, Fianna Fáil and many other parties left those calls unheeded. We want to ensure we do not miss this opportunity for radical reform and that whatever changes we bring in will address the real abuses of the planning system that are going on, that were exposed on Monday night and of which I have seen additional evidence.

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