Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for being with us. The Mahon tribunal investigated planning corruption in Dublin between 1997 and 2012. The tribunal cost more than €160 million, consisted of 589 days of public hearings and taking evidence and had 427 witnesses. One might ask what the taxpayer has to show for all of this work and all this money and these hours of investigation? We know that court decisions relating to 12 named persons, including a former Minister, developers and a Dublin City assistant manager were subsequently quashed. Hard-hitting and clear recommendations have been made in the report by the tribunal. We need to hear how they are progressing. Can the Minister of State explain why some of the key recommendations of the Mahon tribunal report have not been implemented? For example, it recommended the disclosure of the identities of all those making political donations in excess of €55. That is not my choice nor my recommendation, but it is what Mr. Justice Mahon said to a Deputy. The report also refers to various thresholds concerning donations. That is an area on which the tribunal has made strong recommendations. I want to hear what the Government is going to do about it.

I am aware of the Corruption Bill, and no doubt the Minister of State is also. I recognise that it is not the Minister of State's responsibility nor the responsibility of his Department. There was a direct effect following Ireland's failure to implement recommendations in terms of corruption. We know that Ireland was recently placed 19th in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index for 2016. It was expressly stated in its findings that, "The failure of the Government to implement the Mahon tribunal and the Moriarty tribunal recommendations was at the very heart of this change". That is profound, and it is something that we need to address.

The Mahon tribunal uncovered extraordinary information about widespread corruption in the planning process, and that infected the planning process for decades. That was a legacy we had in the past. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, brought in the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016, which has been passed by both Houses. How is the Minister of State going to implement the recommendations that have come from the Mahon tribunal? Can he advise the House of his plans to establish an independent planning regulators office? This was part of the programme for Government. The Minister of State has a lot of work on his plate. The key issues I want to identify today are the implementation of the recommendations of the Mahon tribunal - I would like a timeframe for that - and how it is intended to proceed with the independent planning regulator.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I apologise for being a little late but I was delayed by traffic.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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No problem.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I think Senator Boyhan for raising this issue. The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, otherwise known as the Mahon tribunal, was established by order of the then Minister for the Environment and Local Government back in 1997 to inquire into and report on various planning matters as set out in resolutions passed by the Dáil and Seanad concerning the establishment of the tribunal. As Senator Boyhan will be aware, the tribunal made in total 64 recommendations, of which ten are planning related and fall to my Department to implement. Some of the planning-related recommendations have already been implemented, such as the development of regional, spatial and economic strategies by the regional assemblies, and prohibiting the use of powers available to elected members under section 140 of the Local Government Act 2001 concerning planning matters.

The majority of the remaining Mahon tribunal planning-related recommendations are provided for in the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016 which is presently being progressed through the Oireachtas, with Dáil Committee Stage scheduled for 12th of April next.I understand the Senator raised this issue with me during a debate last week. All Stages of the Bill are progressing.

The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016 proposes to provide legislative underpinning in respect of the following tribunal recommendations. It proposes to place on a statutory footing the proposed new national planning framework, to be titled Ireland 2040 - Our Plan, as a successor to the 2002 national spatial strategy. It also proposes the establishment of a new independent office of the planning regulator to take over the functions of evaluating and assessing local development plans and regional strategies, to generally oversee the operation of the planning system and to conduct necessary reviews of the operation of the planning system. This proposal is particularly important and will introduce a further institutional layer of sophistication and oversight to the planning system.

The Bill also proposes enhanced transparency in the planning process, requiring the publication of submissions, local area plans and development plans, as well as the chief executive's report on such submissions on the website of the planning authority. It also proposes the forwarding of any proposed grant of planning commission which will materially contravene a development or a local area plan to the relevant regional assembly for observations. The payment of reduced or no fees by elected members when making submissions and planning applications as well as the noting of such representations on a development planning file is also proposed.

There are two planning related recommendations in the final report of the Mahon tribunal which have not yet been progressed, one of which the Senator mentioned. The first recommendation relates to the proposal that members of regional assemblies shall be directly elected. In this regard, the new regional assembly structures were only established in 2014, further to the Local Government Reform Act of that year. Accordingly, it is considered premature to progress this recommendation at the early stage of the operation of the new regional assembly structures. However, it is intended that implementation of this recommendation will be reviewed after the new structures have run a full five-year term in 2019.

The other outstanding tribunal recommendation which remains to be progressed, and to which the Senator referred, relates to the introduction of a requirement that applicants for planning permission be required to disclose if they have made a political donation to a member of a local authority or elected representative when submitting a planning application and also to indicate the identity of the recipient of any such political donation.

On this matter, it is considered that issues relating to political donations generally are probably most appropriately addressed in the standards in public office legislation, which is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. However, the Minister will reflect further on whether it might be possible to address the issue of planning related political donations in the specific context of planning legislation. Committee Stage of the relevant Bill will be debated in April. I hope I have clarified the position for the Senator.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. It will feed into a proposal on a draft Bill on which we are working and which will come before the House at some point.

I want to raise two issues. The Minister of State has not identified the new independent office of planning regulation. He acknowledged it, but gave no commitment on its implementation, including the date of its establishment. I ask him to come back to the House on that.

On the payment of reduced or no fees for county councillors and elected members of the 31 local authorities, we are none the wiser. I ask the Minister of State to share some of his thoughts on that.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Bill to which I referred - it is on Committee Stage - will deal with the matter. In terms of timelines in regard to the independent planning regulator I do not want to second guess what will happen on Committee Stage. As the Senator knows, proceedings can go quite smoothly or take time. Either way, we are open to having a lengthy discussion with all Members of both Houses on Committee and Remaining Stages of the Bill. I have no doubt I will be back in the House. I cannot comment on timelines.