Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am deeply concerned about the attempt to rush through this last-minute planning legislation. The repeated disregard for the importance of legislative scrutiny and the not giving of time to consider complex Bills, such as this, is becoming a dangerous habit. It is not the first time the Minister has attempted to rush a Bill through the House before the recess. The Planning and Development, Maritime, and Valuation (Amendment) Act 2022, which was pushed through the Houses before July, included controversial amendments the Minister had to subsequently withdraw. Substantially and more importantly, before the Christmas recess of 2016, the Minister's predecessor pushed through the mess that is strategic housing development, SHD, which was supposed to speed up housing delivery, and we have all been dealing with the consequences of this decision to rush legislation.

We will not be voting in favour of this Bill because we do not agree with unilaterally pushing through reforms, such as these, in an information vacuum. For example, we have not even seen the Farrell report on An Bord Pleanála. While I understand the reasons and rationale for this, as it involves legal issues, a full and comprehensive reform of An Bord Pleanála or the provision of a best-practice planning authorities is needed. The public has clearly lost faith in the planning process. The SHD process was introduced in December 2016 and most people do not know what the planning authority is going to do. We are in chaos with it. On Committee Stage, the Labour Party will propose that any reforms introduced now will include a sunset clause. This would allow the proper functioning of the board for the coming months and we could take on board the points made about the chairperson. That should be done on the basis of wider reform of our planning system and wider consolidation of our overly complex planning laws, as well as reform of An Bord Pleanála.

I refer to social housing amendments. Similar to the SHD process, we have to be careful that we do not hand over powers that are supposedly intended to speed up housing delivery but which, in fact, delay it because the process does not stand up to legal challenge. That is an important point. We are being asked to vote on something that we have not seen and that will come through at a later stage by way of an amendment that has not yet been drafted. We in the Seanad will not get the opportunity to submit amendments in the full knowledge of what is there and what will be included.

We welcome the Government's commitment to social and affordable housing and to the speeding up of delivery, however, it must be done in a timely fashion and perhaps by way of a stand-alone Bill after Christmas. It is our understanding, following legal advice, that something such as this must constitute an emergency. In order for an environmental impact assessment, EIA, and an appropriate assessment, AA, to be waived that has to be demonstrated. I can certainly see circumstances where that may be allowable and may stand up to legal challenge, but we do not know this because we have not seen the amendments. Governments may say it will introduce reforms, such as the SHD process, to speed up housing delivery, but it actually delays housing delivery because so much of it gets bogged down. If we are sincere about cleaning up the mess of planning rules in Ireland, we ought to introduce a consolidated, omnibus Bill on planning reform in 2023 that is well thought out, subject to proper legislative scrutiny, has proper feedback from all the different players involved, and where sufficient time and information is provided to consider it.

Even if the Bill were perfect, we still believe every Bill should be assessed properly by Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas. In addition, outside bodies and environmental groups should be allowed time to consider it. Unfortunately, the Bill is far from perfect, and our concerns lie where any independence of An Bord Pleanála or a reformed planning body would be sacrificed.

As it stands, the Bill proposes to provide the Minister with unchecked powers over changes to the size of the board and its appointment of ordinary members. While there is an argument to be made to increase the number of board members, we have significant concerns about the ministerial or, in fact, the departmental power grab of such a provision. It is unclear what the committee or panel meant to advise on appointments, as set out in the general scheme, and whether it is mandatory or if their recommendations are binding, or merely advisory for the Minister. There is concern that this is an alternative attempt to give control of the foreshore to vested industries, as happened when a controversial amendment that allowed a new regulatory body to sell off State-owned portions of the foreshore, without Oireachtas oversight, was withdrawn by the Minister during the summer.

We are growing too accustomed to last-minute rushed legislation on this area. This caused things to become bogged down in the courts. There is a lack of clarity from professionals, lawyers and people involved in this area. There must be separate social housing provision and if that were allowed, it could be introduced after January. We need proper, planned, considered reform of the planning authority and planning legislation.