Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an t-Aire agus fáiltím roimh an Bille seo. I welcome the Minister and the introduction of the Bill. I would not be telling the truth if I said I was happy with all of the provisions of the Bill because I am not. The Minister would need to be the good Lord himself to bring forward a Bill that would find satisfaction on every side of the House, even the Government side.

One very pleasing aspect is that the Bill has been initiated in the Seanad, which is appropriate and important, given that the vast majority of our electorate are locally elected members of county or borough councils. I was nominated to stand for this body by town councillors.

The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 is part of the Government's commitment to having a smart economy in Ireland. I welcome the stab in this direction. The Bill also provides a framework for sustainable economic renewal.

Reference has been made to corruption in the planning system and it is important to refer to it again at this stage. There may be a misconception that this corruption only involved local and national politicians but it did not. Some officials were also involved, as has been proved conclusively. I would welcome any measure to eliminate corruption. I never had any problem in supporting zonings I thought were correct but which may not have found favour with officials. Officials are not always right but they are not always wrong either. Neither are local authority members always right or wrong.

The Bill introduces a number of key changes to the planning code with the principal aim of supporting economic renewal and promoting sustainable development. I hope it will bring to an end bad planning which has led to a deterioration in the quality of life for a number of people living in estates without facilities, schools or proper public transport services.

The new legislation will give the Minister of the day a greater legal role in the making of local authority development plans. Although the Minister has left, I have already made this point to him. I would be concerned about any measure that would in any way reduce the powers of locally elected members. Planning is mainly local under the auspices of a local authority; therefore, a locally elected member who is directly answerable to the electorate is the most appropriate person to make plans in that regard. I will comment further on this issue when the Minister is present.

There were zoning decisions made by certain local authorities which did not find favour with the Department or the Minister; they did not find favour with me either. In many local authorities it is Senator Coffey's party which is dominant and has a primary role in the preparation and bringing forward of a county development plan.