Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt the Deputies once. They will get their time and come back. In September 2021, there was a 15-month comprehensive review of the Planning and Development Act. This was asked for by the Government of the Office of the Attorney General. We are talking nearly three years on that. In December 2021, the planning advisory forum was established. It was made up of over 30 key stakeholders in the Irish planning sector. It met on seven occasions to consider proposed reforms emanating from the review carried out by the Office of the Attorney General. In January 2023, the draft Bill was published allowing detailed scrutiny of the proposed legislation. This was much greater than was typically available through the publication of a general scheme. Then we moved on. In February and March 2023, there were nine sessions of pre-legislative scrutiny by the joint committee, and some of the Members here participated in that and I credit them for doing that. After that, it submitted a report of around 150 recommendations. They were all carefully considered and two thirds of them were incorporated into the Bill in some format. Then we moved on. We are going back to September 2021, December 2021 and then January 2023. There was widespread public consultation even in preparation of a draft Bill.

In November 2023, the Bill was published and initiated in the Dáil. That is where its gets very interesting for those who are giving out about a lack of time on Report and Final Stages. I refer to Dáil Committee Stage. I credit members of the select committee - Government and opposition members - and others who came in, including Deputies Bacik and Boyd Barrett who spent a lot of time in there despite not being members of the committee. We had 115 hours of debate on 1,200 amendments. A substantial number of those were in duplicate or triplicate. They were repetitious but we debated them. Remember that on Committee Stage, on which we spent 115 hours, 320 divisions were called. It is the right of members to call divisions but strategic votes were called too where members of the committee withdrew, so that the full amount of time between each vote had to be allowed.

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That wasted time on Committee Stage. Those votes took about 30 hours. Deputy Ó Broin knows this; he formally withdrew Deputy Gould from the committee for a period of time in protest. That is the first time I have ever seen that, having been in this House since 2007. It meant when we voted there was a gap of at least eight minutes between each vote. We lost a lot of time there. That was not down to me or the Government; it was a decision taken by Sinn Féin to delay the process of bringing forward this Bill. We got through Committee Stage. A lot of it was constructive, to be fair, once we got over that issue.

Report Stage in the Dáil took place on 11 and 12 June. Second Stage in the Seanad was later in June. From 15 to 17 July was Seanad Committee Stage, which involved 25 hours of debate. Seanad Report Stage involved a further ten hours of debate. Now there is three hours for debate here.

Why are we bringing forward this legislation? Everyone here claims to want an efficient and effective planning system that supports the homes and strategic infrastructure we need. When we get an opportunity to vote on it, we will see who really wants it. Statutory timeframes, clarity, consistency and certainty within our planning system, the reform of An Bord Pleanála, the creation of an coimisiún pleanála and all the difficulties we have seen within our planning system show the legislation requires significant reform, updating and review. This Bill is the most significant reform of our planning legislation in a quarter of a century. It is urgent and needed.

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