Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague for his words of support and encouragement. The Minister of State’s party has a substantial number of councillors and he was a councillor for many years, and a good one at that, which I acknowledge. He will be aware of the importance of public engagement. I sat for four years on the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government, as it was then known, and I am back on the new committee. I have attended the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, conferences up and down this country for over 20 years, I have attended meetings of the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, for years and I have spoken at many of these conferences. There is a yearning among elected members of all parties and none for more powers for local government, whether that be the executive or otherwise. I want to put on record that I have only had positive experiences with the executives of local governments. I take my hat off to them as they are exceptional people and they have worked exceptionally hard. Whatever system happens in the future in regard to mayors, and I do not know where it is going to go, I acknowledge and have always been supportive of the executive and I support executives running councils. The distribution of powers is another thing for another day and another debate.

The Minister of State will be aware of the importance of that engagement. In the time of the last Government, the Administration centralised more decisions and took more powers away from councillors. I am conscious of Senators - Members of this House - who are on the record as being critical of past Governments because they took away powers from local government. They did not give additional powers to local government. They took plenty of money from local government and local communities too, but they did not balance that with commensurate powers. Powers are no good without finance and finance is no good without the powers and the functions. Again, that is a debate for another day.

I do not know what to make of Senator Fitzpatrick's point about an over-egged situation in regard to consultation. I am not going to comment because I do not like that expression. I do not know who or what she is referring to by it. I will listen back later and see if I can get a context in which she is attributing that suggestion and comment, because I do not think it is good, right or positive. I am somewhat surprised this comes from someone who has a huge track record in local government in Dublin City Council, and having talked to so many Dublin city councillors over the weekend. What is going on here? Where is it all lost in translation? That is another thing we need to discuss at some other point. As for suggesting that members of the community are engaged in hijacking, I have been at many council meetings and I have never come across it. The type of meeting Senator Fitzpatrick might be talking about must be very different to the ones I have attended, and I have attended many of them.I have attended meetings in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at which hundreds of people turned up and had a very positive experience. Professional planners, through information panels, information boards and infographics, explained the impact of the green strategy, transport strategy, development strategy and planning and development controls. This is a very positive experience.

Many members of local councils came through this process. They came from the bottom up, as members of community organisations. They were involved in Tidy Towns organisations and campaigns to save Wood Quay, Dún Laoghaire Harbour or the famous bridge in Drogheda. They became politicised by this engagement and then signed up to political parties. Some of them were elected as independent community activists and candidates. Local government and campaigns bring people on board and politicise them. That is an important point.

The public consultation meetings - the statutory ones I am referring to - involve engagement by professional planners on the ground who know the plan and assist members of the public. There is nothing better than looking at an infographic or a map, seeing where one lives and asking what is happening in the area. Most people at these meetings gravitate to developments in the area within a few kilometres of where they live. That is where their children go to school and where they are active in their communities. That is important just in case there is any misunderstanding of what I am talking about.

There was some suggestion by other Senators that this was some sort of add-on. Before I continue, I acknowledge and thank the Oireachtas Library and Research Service for, as always, an excellent piece of research done by one of its top senior researchers in law. I commend the team. This is a wonderful facility we have in the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is backed up by facts, reports, legislation and information relating to the Aarhus convention and other conventions. I acknowledge the service for the work it does because it makes our job so much easier and equips us with the facts. It is from where I have gleaned most of my research. I would like to attribute that and thank the service.

The Bill is clear. It states in this report that the Bill is to replace the mandatory requirement on the city and county council executives to hold public meetings about a proposed city and county development plan. That is what the Bill says. It is not a case of perhaps, shall or will, or that someone else will do it, we are misunderstanding this or do not know what we are talking about. This is clearly stated and is set out in the Bill, the explanatory memorandum and the Oireachtas research paper to which many speakers have referred.

There are two other issues to be clarified. Under a new paragraph in the Bill proposed by the Minister, the planning authority would be required to consult "the public in such manner (which may include the holding of a public meeting) as it considers appropriate ... ." That is clean, clear, crisp, concise English. Everyone should understand what that means.

The Bill then deals with issues around the functions of the council. For those who are not familiar with this, the preparation of a draft development plan under section 11 of the 2000 Act is a function of the chief executive, not a member. We are not talking about the elected members at that point. The draft is wholly, exclusively and solely the function of the chief executive and his or her executive team. This stage is not about what councillors might say or challenge or the ability of councillors to prevent it from happening because that is not within their gift. I would like the Minister to confirm that. I repeat that the draft development plan, under section 11 of the 2000 Act, is a function of the council chief executive and his or her executive team. Therefore, it would be the executive that would determine the consultation method at that stage.That is a fact and is clearly set out in the report of the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. It would be helpful if the Minister of State's officials could clarify that as soon as possible. It is solely for the chief executive to make a determination on the consultation period at that point. It does not fall to the members.

I take on board what everyone has said and I do not think we are poles apart. Leaving aside the political nuance, the bottom line is that we need new technologies. We need to embrace new methods of communication and involve everyone in the process, young, old and in between. Let us not give the discretion to the elected members or the executive. Instead, the legislation must make it obligatory for public meetings to take place as part of this process. It is a good and reasonable proposal. There do not have to be winners and losers here. This is about engagement and bringing people with us instead of blocking them out. It is their plan as well as ours. This will determine the future planning direction of the sustainable economic development of our villages, towns, cities and country. It is only appropriate to engage with as many people as possible through as many media as possible, so they can understand, contribute to and participate in the planning of our country. This is really important.