Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not think the Minister of State was in the House when I referred earlier to the Green Party's planning policy document of 2023. I acknowledge the significant recommendation by his party in regard to the Planning Regulator. He is the lead man in his party on this area given his brief in the Department. The proposal is for a national planning information agency. This Green Party initiative is a really good one, which I commend. The agency, it is proposed, would come within the remit of the OPR. It should be mandated - these are not my words but what is set out in the Green Party proposal - to respond to requests from the public to provide information in respect of the national local plans. This would improve the standards of public observation on developments and engagement with the planning processes, to the benefit of both the public and developers. The Green Party policy document goes on to refer to enhancing the role of citizens and councillors in planning, models of public engagement, the reduction of fees and the costs of the resistance to any attempt to materially restrict the preparation of the plans. It refers to properly resourced planning at An Bord Pleanála. This is not going to sort out the thousands of planning permissions for houses that are still sitting with the board but it is a positive proposal. The document also refers to functions across the planning system and development management enforcement. We need proper skills and we need care for the integrity of the process. It was an interesting document.

However, much of that is not reflected in the Bill. I do not know how the shortfall happened and why the Minister of State drew the shorter straw. It is a pity, given this is the Green Party's stated policy and the Minister of State is the lead on this area in the Department, that some of what is in that document is not in the Bill. The Minister has confirmed there will be a periodic critical review of the Office of the Planning Regulator. That is satisfactory to me. I did not know about it until yesterday. I pressed the Minister on the matter just before he came into the Chamber and he has now committed to initiating that process before the end of the year, which is positive. We need to examine issues relating to the governance structures of the OPR. We need to talk about scrutiny, accountability, efficiency, effectiveness and security, and we need to secure improvements. That is part of the learning curve.

As I said to the Minister earlier, I welcome the Government's amendment No. 176, which proposes to establish an office of advisory board to the OPR. It is an important measure. It is a follow-on, as the Minister said, to the engagement that has happened. This amendment deals with the OPR. It is somewhat a pity that more is not being done. In the quietness of the night, the Minister of State might take out his party's policy document and ask why so much of it, which was published only a few months ago, is not embedded in this Bill. However, that is for another day.