Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I join Senator Ross in calling for a debate on this serious matter. Many people are paying a high cost as a result of the circumstances surrounding non-resident accounts and DIRT, whereas faceless institutions, namely, banks, are paying a marginal penalty. Where were the corporate policy executives who designed the products employees were forced by their superiors to sell to individuals? Every Member of the House probably knows ten widows or other citizens who had to pay thousands of euro in penalties because they cashed in accounts worth a few thousand euro to invest in non-resident accounts on the advice of bank managers who were under pressure from higher authorities which nobody, it appears, is in a position to name. The account holders were ignorant of the implications, legal or otherwise, and did not know they were doing anything wrong.

On the issue of planning, I agree with calls to invite the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government before the House to debate local government funding and ensure local authorities are adequately resourced. While the Minister has taken important steps to address rural planning guidelines, the gross inconsistencies in the approach of An Bord Pleanála need to be urgently addressed. We have seen cases of its local inspectors, who are familiar with the sites in question, recommending a decision on an application which is then overturned by the board.

Such a debate should also address the right to object to planning applications because it is unacceptable that a person from Dublin with a summer house in County Sligo is in a position to impede others building a home in which they need to live.