Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

Senator Harris referred to the House's protracted debate on NAMA. The criticism is misplaced. As the OECD survey of the economy shows, we have a chronic problem. The survey confirms all of our worst fears about the state of the economy. However, it highlights the Government's inaction on this crisis. The debate on the NAMA legislation was deemed "protracted", but it was only recently introduced in the Dáil and will not be introduced in this House until next week. The debate on NAMA has not been protracted and it has helped to improve the Bill and show up particular shortfalls in the legislation. Statements about protracted debates on legislation are anti-democratic. The country has a problem, but we need proper parliamentary scrutiny of whatever legislation passes through the Houses.

I wish to refer to the matter of An Bord Pleanála as raised by Senator Coffey. A High Court judge, Mr. Justice Peter Kelly, upheld a judicial review of a decision by An Bord Pleanála and recommended that the matter be reheard by different members of the board. He specified this in order to avoid further judicial reviews of the case. That advice was not followed and it was on that point and others that Judge McMenamin found unfathomable the logic of the board in how it proceeded. Judge McMenamin's second decision against the board has not been appealed by it and yet the chairman of the board can criticise that decision. There is something fundamentally wrong with that attitude, in particular when the Judiciary has found the board to be in default. I support Senator Coffey's call for the board to get its house in order.