Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 18:

In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “(1A) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an individual who is or within the preceding 1 year was employed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage shall not be eligible for appointment under subsection (1).”.

Amendment No. 18 seeks to add a caveat to the proposed section 105(a) that while a temporary Chair may be sought from within the Civil Service, an individual who is or was within the preceding one year employed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage should not be eligible for appointment. Again, this comes back to the fundamental point about the independence of the planning system from the Executive, the separation of powers in respect of planning policy and legislation as set by Government, and the administration of proper planning process by An Bord Pleanála. Amendments Nos. 18 and 46 are simply trying to add clauses to the legislation to try to improve it.

Amendment No. 46 seeks to add a caveat to the proposed new subsection (4) of section 108 by stipulating specifically that a person who is or was employed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage within the past year may not be appointed as temporary chair or member of the board. The reason for this relates to the point I raised about the fusion or changing of the two Departments. It is not simply a matter of a public servant or somebody who has been employed in a Department or in a public body, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, or any of those bodies, but there is a specific intention within our planning architecture to separate the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the planning process.

In this regard, I am saying that even if public servants who may have certain expertise as civil servants are being appointed, they should not be coming from that Department. Again, this is being true to the spirit of section 30 and the wider spirit of the Bill which contains painstaking attempts to ensure there are checks and balances and that the Department which sets legislation and regulation in the area of planning should not then get to adjudicate on how that legislation or regulation is applied effectively through An Bord Pleanála.

Again, there is a particular requirement, which is principled and logical, for separation and that is why I am requesting that even if the Minister proceeds with the appointment of civil servants, he would at least guarantee the independence of An Bord Pleanála from the Department is ensured by ensuring officials from those Departments would not get transferred.