Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I thank her for her commitment, observations and views on this report. It is important we agree that we are dealing with this subject, given the seriousness of the report and the awful picture it painted. It is a report of profound significance, which arose out of the serious public concern in respect of allegations of corruption in respect of the planning process, especially in the Dublin region. One of the faults may have been the terms of reference, which were too wide initially. I do not know what Senator Walsh was doing about that. His party was in the Government when it proposed those terms of reference. They were agreed unanimously by both Houses of the Oireachtas at the time. There is some anecdotal evidence that some of these practices were not simply confined to Dublin, but due to the planning tribunal's terms of reference, it did not get to investigate that.

I accept that the vast majority of people who dealt with planning were above reproach. The councillors of this country give of themselves unstintingly but unfortunately there were a few bad apples. The tribunal of inquiry began in 1997 and had over 900 public sittings and called more than 400 witnesses, with many thousands of pages of evidence and correspondence. It is important to say in response to Senator Walsh that it was frequently buffeted and challenged during the course of its work.

The judges, Mr. Justice Fergus Flood and Mr. Justice Alan Mahon, who succeeded him as chairman, Ms Justice Mary Flaherty and Mr. Justice Gerald Keys, deserve great tribute. They presided over many years of hearings and investigations and deserve our compliments for their comprehensive final report, which runs to more than 3,250 pages. They pointed out that a module has been withheld, presumably with hundreds more pages. I assume this relates to the Carrickmines module because matters involved in this are ongoing before the courts.

Sadly the report finds corruption was both endemic and systemic in Irish political life and affected every level of Government, from senior ministerial office holders to some local councillors and its existence, unfortunately, was widely known and believed to have been tolerated. One of the most shameful aspects that occurred during the course of the tribunal's work were the attempts to undermine its independence, to express a lack of trust in it and by so doing attempt to frustrate the will of the Oireachtas. The judges stated boldly in the report that they came under sustained and virulent attacks from senior members of the last Government at a critical stage of their investigation and that the legality of their inquiries, as well as their own integrity, was questioned. This gave succour and support to the various court challenges to the tribunal that took place that greatly delayed it and held up its vital work

This Government on receipt of the report and initial consideration of its findings rightly referred the report of the Garda Commissioner, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners and the Chairman of the Standards in Public Office Commission. The Garda Commissioner has already referred the report to the Criminal Assets Bureau for its urgent attention.

In addition to its findings of fact, the report sets out a series of policy recommendations for consideration to help ensure similar situations do not arise again in future. These 64 recommendations cover a wide area of matters, not just planning but also conflicts of interest, political finance, lobbying, bribery, corruption in office, money laundering, misuse of confidential information and asset recovery and confiscation. We have the Minister speak on all of these matters. Furthermore, the Cabinet decided all Ministers should be asked to consider as a matter of urgency the report's recommendations that fall within their respective remits and this is expected by the end of April.

It is good to know some of the recommendations are already being addressed, such as reform of the tribunals of inquiry legislation and new legislative proposals in regard to political funding corruption, whistleblowers and the registration of lobbyists. The Electoral Amendment (Political Donations) Bill is one such example. This Bill will provide for greater transparency for donors and those in receipt of political donations.

The ethical performance of elected members and officials in local authorities is a key consideration and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is examining the tribunal's recommendations closely to ensure whatever steps are necessary to restore and underpin confidence and transparency in the local government system are taken.

Planning is an issue that pervades the tribunals work and analysis. Thankfully planning has in recent times shifted from being developer-led to a more evidence-based and vertically integrated system. It is good to hear the Minister of State make clear it is a policy priority of her Department that the planning system will continue to evolve into a more evidence-based regime so scope for incorrect zoning decisions is eliminated as far as possible. We are all interested in the openness and transparency of the democratic process and the final Mahon report makes sound and sensible findings and recommendations of the most profound kind in this regard.

I welcome the Minister's confirmation that the report is being considered carefully and will be acted upon speedily and comprehensively. We must ensure history does not repeat itself in any respect in what happened with regard to planning in the past. This ongoing work will help restore public confidence in the political system, which is so important to the health of our democracy.