Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The amendments in my name and that of my colleague, Senator McDowell are amendments Nos. 92, 99, 102, 105 and 108. I will speak to amendments Nos. 92, 99 and 102. We have talked about deleting the reference to the regulator in this section. The Minister has briefed us on the Planning Regulator. I welcome the Government amendment No. 716 which deals with this somewhat. How he appoints the advisory board will be important. I do not want to open a bigger debate about his appointments to An Bord Pleanála. There was an expectation that the legislation would provide for representation for agriculture on the board. That did not happen. I have looked at the profiles of all the representatives on the board and there is no one with agricultural expertise and yet that is provided for. I wish to flag that as something that may be an issue.

Planning is, of course, about sustainable planning development but it is also about our economic development and how we map out land use, which is another important aspect as the Minister will be well aware, in terms of the residential zoned land tax. I welcome that because it is a genuine effort. The Minister has told us that this is as a result of engagement and listening in the Dáil and Seanad. I take him at his word for that and thank him for it.

Yesterday, I spoke about the periodic critical review, PCR, of the OPR and that is due to be undertaken as outlined in a briefing that was given to the Minister of State at the Department of housing when he took office. I suppose the objective of the review of this process is primarily to secure improvements in accountability, efficiency and effectiveness. It is also about the scrutiny and objectivity of and rationale for the Office of the Planning Regulator. Subject to everyone being in government and everything running smoothly, I ask the Minister to give his absolute commitment to the periodic critical review, which is a key objective in the corporate vision for his Department. It is not about individuals who hold the office because that changes and will change as the Minister well knows. There are serious concerns about that issue. I will not go on about any of the other amendments. It is important that this critical review takes place. I welcome the debate and I will contribute further if we get to the Government amendment - we probably will not get to that quite frankly. I acknowledge the importance and significance of that intervention.