Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

The case mentioned by Senator Ulick Burke is frightening. It is no wonder An Bord Pleanála went into court with its hands up. We should be grateful for the judgment of Mr. Justice O'Neill of the High Court on 24 October 2006 in his ruling on the Grealish v. An Bord Pleanála case. This judgment was not appealed to the Supreme Court and is now the law of the land. Mr. Justice O'Neill ruled that the board should never again overrule one of its inspectors without setting out in writing all the relevant reasons and considerations and that it was unreasonable and irrational to waiver an inspector's judgment and the board should not do so again. Objectivity and impartiality are a sine qua non of the planning process which should be open and transparent.

Reasons and considerations are important and we must always ensure the public interest and the integrity of An Bord Pleanála is upheld. The board is the final arbiter of planning matters and must be seen to be above reproach. As Mr. Justice Kelly said in another famous landmark decision, there must always be sufficient information for the citizen who must always have a reasonable chance of assessing whether he or she could succeed in judicially reviewing a decision.

I support Senator Ulick Burke's call for the Minister to come to the House to debate this matter.