Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with much in the proposal and understand why the Senator is making it. I understand the observations of his colleagues.

However, I do not propose to accept amendment No. 24 tabled by Senator Reilly proposing the insertion of definitions of the terms "planner" and "planning consultant" in the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. He said it is a small step but while it might seem a small step in the writing of it, this would kick off a much larger process. Senator Humphreys touched on that. There is a process to go through if we want to achieve this. We have not had the chance in the past week to discuss this but even that week would not have been enough for us to get this dealt with. I understand what the Senator is trying to do and would support it because the idea behind this Bill is to bring more transparency into the planning system, to have much better planning and more people involved in the process, and observing the national planning frameworks, county development plans and regional strategies that we have all been involved in over the past two or three years.

Planning has improved considerably over the past ten to 15 years. We want to improve it again, to make it clear and transparent and to put trust into the system. That means that when people hire what they think is a planner or planning consultant they can be sure they are getting someone qualified to do the job. That trust is betrayed if that person does not have the required skills. We see that in other professions and we are dealing with it bit by bit in them, and rightly so. I support the Senator but am not ready to put this into this Bill.

The terms "planner" and "planning consultant" are not mentioned anywhere in the principal Act and, therefore, I do not see any useful purpose, or legal requirement, to include such definitions in the principal Act. I acknowledge that several submissions have been received in the Department seeking to define these terms and to regulate the planning profession. Whereas I recognise the role and qualities of professional planners in the Irish planning system, there are a series of questions that remain to be resolved, such as the potential for anti-competitive challenges from workers from other EU member states with professional planning qualifications and how the regulatory function will operate practically in terms of regulation, policing and funding. These are issues we have discussed with the relevant bodies over the past couple of years but there have not been any solid proposals in this area. We would need those and I would be happy to engage with the relevant authorities.

I addressed a conference at the IPI last week. A group of people in the room were members of the IPI and have expertise in planning. We need that and want it but there is a process to go through. Inserting this amendment would not do the process justice and would not be fair to the system. It would be wrong to do that.

When we discussed this last week I mentioned precedent. Senators Humphreys and Boyhan referred to the regulation of specific professional groups. I namechecked the architects profession last week as provided for in the Building Control Act 2007. Without having any further flesh on the bones as to how a register of planners would operate, I am not in a position to accept this. We went through a similar process with the architects and there are still unresolved issues, years on.

If we are going to do this we need to do it the right way with proper consultation involving everybody. I would be happy to engage in that process and legislate or regulate for it later. There are quite a few fundamental issues that require further consideration and development in this regard. I want to proceed with caution in this matter for the moment. While we would all agree that it is something we want to achieve, we have to do it in a proper manner. I would not be in a position to take it on Report Stage. I and the officials give a strong commitment that we will engage on this and we can achieve it if we want to but that will take longer than putting it into this Bill.