Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to introduce this Bill to Seanad Éireann today. I thank the Seanad for facilitating this important and urgent legislation. I acknowledge concerns about the limits on debate time and the fact that the pre-legislative scrutiny report has not been published. However, the urgency of the issues at hand to address the housing crisis requires immediate legislative action. I appreciate the Seanad's assistance in achieving that. I want to set out the background and why such swift actions are needed.

The Bill was part of the An Bord Pleanála reform agenda agreed by the Cabinet on 4 October and then submitted for pre-legislative scrutiny, which commenced on 10 November. For clarity, as was indicated in the letter to the Seanad Leader to facilitate the expedited passage of the Bill, Department officials fully engaged in this pre-legislative process. I indicated to Opposition parties on 22 November that I intended to introduce additional measures in the Bill to expedite the supply of social and affordable housing. However, the pre-legislative scrutiny report has still not been published, which means it would not have been possible to seek and receive Cabinet and Oireachtas approval of the Bill before the Christmas recess. I have made my officials available for briefings, as required, on any aspect of the Bill to ensure every Member is fully informed.

I want to emphasise two points on which we need to move forward quickly that require this urgent approach. The first concerns the immediate need to put in place a new chairperson for An Bord Pleanála to help unlock the planning delays affecting our housing system. Overhauling and reforming An Bord Pleanála to rebuild and restore public trust after a turbulent period and to ensure it can play an efficient and effective role at the apex of our planning system cannot be delayed any further. Second, the pressing need to ramp up supply and address the impact of inflation, higher interest rates and supply-chain issues means we need to take further steps to boost housing delivery. In this light, I am bringing forward accelerated measures to support local authority social and affordable housing delivery through the planning system and by using modern construction methods. I am aware that all Senators understand the urgent need to prioritise the tackling of our housing crisis through all means available. This proposed amendment, subject to Cabinet approval, reflects that.

I will now go through the broad policies underpinning the Bill. Since its establishment in 1977, An Bord Pleanála has become an integral part of the Irish planning system, providing an independent, impartial and objective appeals process, in addition to numerous other functions. The provisions concerning the board of An Bord Pleanála contained in the Bill are necessary to ensure the full functioning of the board to allow it to process its significant workload efficiently.

While the main legislative provisions relating to An Bord Pleanála are being examined in detail as part of the review of planning legislation currently being led by the Attorney General, this Bill deals with certain initial matters requiring immediate action on foot of the action plan for An Bord Pleanála, phase 1, which resulted from the Office of the Planning Regulator's review of An Bord Pleanála and other matters relating to addressing board vacancies and the board's caseload in light of its new marine functions. These new functions include providing for the appointment of a chairperson of An Bord Pleanála, for an interim period, while a permanent chairperson is recruited through open competition; increasing the limit on the overall number of ordinary members of the board to ensure the increasing caseload can be managed and the appropriate quorums and suitable allocation of case files can be assured; expanding the provision to appoint temporary ordinary board members to allow for the appointment of serving or former civil servants, public servants or employees of the board for a term of up to a year; providing for a suitable, independent, objective and transparent procedure by which recommendations may be made to the Minister concerning the recruitment and appointment of ordinary members of the board through an open competitive process; clarifying and streamlining the investigative powers of a new chairperson under section 110; and removing the option for a two-member board quorum so that the minimum quorum will be at least three.

The Bill provides for a new appointment process for board members of An Bord Pleanála through open competition where any member of the public can apply if he or she believes they have the relevant experience or qualifications to serve on the board. This process will replace the outdated panel nomination process with a new structure to replenish the board. The reform of the appointment process for members to the board of An Bord Pleanála is a critical step to ensure board impartiality and transparency and will restore confidence in An Bord Pleanála as the independent planning body that is foundational to the success of the planning system in Ireland.

Part 3 of the Bill introduces an amendment to the definition of "foreshore" to ensure the body of water above the seabed and the subsoil below it are included. The Bill provides that this revised definition should be understood to have always been the definition of "foreshore". It also provides that leases, licences and consents granted and made by the Minister under the 1933 Act that include an area that would not have fallen under the definition of foreshore prior to this amendment shall be understood to be foreshore in accordance with the amended definition. Likewise, applications on hand with the Minister under the Act can be consented to on that basis.It has been always understood since 1933 that the foreshore as described and defined in the Foreshore Act included subsoil, bed and shore, as well as the water column. This is how the State and foreshore users have operated for many decades, with leases and licences applied for and granted on that basis. In the summer of 2022, a developer in the foreshore area raised for the first time, an issue as to whether the water column was indeed included in the definition. The intention of the amendments is to put beyond doubt the State’s authority to regulate the use of this water column. This is particularly important when it comes to developer-led activities that take place solely in the water column and which do not impact the seabed; in order that the State can meet its obligations with respect to range of directives for the protection of the maritime area; and to ensure that there is a coherent consenting process in the maritime area ahead of the commencement of the new regulatory regime provided for under the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021.

I wish to advise that I am working with the Attorney General to develop an amendment to be tabled on Committee Stage to provide in defined circumstances for the accelerated delivery of social or affordable housing on local authority or other State lands that do not require an environment impact assessment, EIA, or an appropriate assessment, AA, for a defined period. The precise criteria underpinning this provision are subject to final technical amendment by the Office of the Attorney General. In essence, the provision would seek to allow for exemption from section 179 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 in strictly defined circumstances where: the land is owned by the local authority or another State body; the land is zoned for housing development; the proposed development is in accordance with the relevant local authority’s housing strategy; the land is serviced or will be serviced within the timeframe of the development; the local authority has regard to the section 28 ministerial planning guidelines on the planning system, flood management, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, guidance and relevant information on monuments and protected structures; and the chief executive has consulted with the elected members and has given public notice of the proposed development.

This measure would be time-bound and is required. We already have planning exemptions in place to facilitate accommodation solutions for the beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine, and we are delighted to be able to help them while the Russian invasion of their country rages on. This proposed planning exemption will enable us to make quicker progress on providing much-needed housing, including for the most vulnerable on our housing waiting lists, while also providing an opportunity to accelerate affordable and cost-rental delivery. The area is complex and the provisions being prepared by the Attorney General will be time-bound provisions subject to Cabinet approval.

Given the short space of time remaining to me, an outline of the sections within the Bill are provided in the copy of my speech I have provided to Senators. The Bill is about moving forward with the reform of appointments to An Bord Pleanála to make sure we have an open and transparent system for appointment of members to the board and to allow the Minister to appoint an interim Chair to the board, which is needed right now. While we continue with the reform agenda for the board, we need the board to be able to function now. The other element, which is very important and which will come by way of amendment on Thursday, is to allow us, on lands that have already been identified as owned by local authorities or by State bodies, to expedite the delivery of social and affordable housing specifically focusing on using modern methods of construction. All of us in this Chamber agree that we have a housing crisis and that we need to ramp up further delivery. Although we will deliver more than 10,000 social homes this year, we need to do more next year. This amendment will enable us to do that. I welcome the support of all Senators in the House, who all believe in the delivery of social and affordable housing. I ask for support for this measure on a time-bound basis, which will enable us to deliver even more social and affordable homes by allowing the planning process to expedite planning in that regard.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister. We have been discussing this legislation at the Oireachtas joint committee. We were in the process of trying to conclude pre-legislative scrutiny on the legislation. We had good engagement with the Minister's Department and with others. As a committee, we support the Government's and the Minister's objectives to deliver on Housing for All, which is the ambitious plan to deliver 300,000 homes, with a mixture of social, affordable, and private homes, and for the very first time the affordable cost-rental homes.

We also support the Government's objectives to facilitate, increase and champion the delivery of renewables and offshore wind energy generation. Ireland is a leader in onshore wind energy but offshore wind energy presents such an enormous opportunity for our country - not just for ourselves but also for wider Europe - for energy security, for energy sustainability, and to help us achieve our climate action objectives. We support all of those efforts.

As a committee there is unanimity around our ambition to have strong, independent, objective planning processes in order that the public can have confidence in our planning processes. This brings me to the disappointment that we have been unable to complete our pre-legislative scrutiny in advance of consideration of this important legislation. I agree with the Minister that it is urgent. The urgency required to solve the housing crisis cannot be overstated. On that basis, the Fianna Fáil group will support the Bill and we look forward to progressing the legislation, and any legislation that can enable our local authorities, approved housing bodies and anybody who wants to help to solve the housing crisis, to solve our energy crisis and to restore public confidence in our planning system.

This legislation aims to do all those three things. The legislation aims to facilitate and ensure independent, transparent and strong decision-making in terms of our planning processes. I commend the Minister on ending the strategic housing development process and for introducing the large-scale residential development planning process. That has done a number of things. It has restored decision-making at a local level. The party believes that the primacy of our democracy is at a local level. Our local governments are independent authorities in each of their jurisdictions. They work in partnership with central government and it is our job to ensure they are equipped and enabled to deliver for their communities. I believe that the reforming change introduced by the Minister to return the planning decision-making processes to our local authorities is an incredibly valuable one that our local authority members appreciate and value. I believe they will exercise it with very good effect for their communities.

This legislation deals with An Bord Pleanála and the need on an urgent basis for the appointment of an interim chairperson. I do not want to delay the debate so I will not discuss the issues that have gone on with An Bord Pleanála. It is not an overstatement to say the public's confidence in the board as a body to perform very important functions around planning is at an all-time low. There is an urgent need for the appointment of a strong chair to that body. The Minister has brought forward a reforming action plan for An Bord Pleanála and there is a real desire from the public to see that action plan implemented as soon as possible and to see confidence being restored in An Bord Pleanála's ability to deliver planning decisions that are independent, objective and, most importantly, transparent. It is very important that we get this done and that the Minister, through this legislation, is able to do that.

The foreshore licence is a critical issue for our marine activities. Again, we will support the Minister's Bill on that.On the new powers that are proposed, they give the local authorities, which are the closest, in our democracy, to the communities we all aim to serve, the power to accelerate the delivery of social and affordable homes at the time of a housing crisis. The Minister's Department and the local authorities are to be commended on the massive acceleration that they have already achieved in just over a year since Housing for All was introduced. Everyone involved should be commended, including the local authorities, the Department, the approved housing bodies, and the private developers - everybody who has put their shoulder to the wheel and has already delivered more than 55,000 homes in construction or commencements. When we consider that we were coming from such a low base 12 to 24 months ago, it is encouraging, but we have to push on with the ambition to deliver a minimum of 35,000 homes per year to get us to somewhere in the region of 40,000 homes a year. The urgency that is required for that is really pressing. It is an ambition that everybody must be involved in. We must enable our local authorities to use lands that are already zoned or serviced for housing in locations where there is housing demand and where there are plans that are consistent with the city and county development plans and the housing plans. One of the additional values and benefits that local authority members have told me Housing for All has given them is the ability to have an input into their housing action and delivery plans, and to know that there is going to be sustained funding over many years to deliver. This is another important development. I thank the Minister for bringing the legislation to the House today and I look forward to the debate.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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First, I welcome the Minister to the House. We are discussing the Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022. I want to start by saying that it is somewhat disappointing. The Minister has acknowledged that we were not in a position to complete our pre-legislative scrutiny. It was only completed at 12 p.m. today. If we put that into context, the deadline for the submission of amendments to the Bill was 11 a.m. today, so it is very unsatisfactory. There have been a number of similar timelines with previous legislation. I recognise the importance of what has to be done in the legislation and the importance of addressing the issues around housing, homes, affordable housing and the Minister's brief.

At the outset I want to thank the staff of the secretariat of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, because they did a lot of work in preparation for this. There was some discussion and tidying up of amendments to the recommendations of the committee. I think the recommendations are strong ones. There might be one or two that are at odds with the Minister's proposals, but I would like to think he will consider them and perhaps bring amendments to the Bill later in the process. I thank the staff of the secretariat and the committee members for their constructive work on the Bill. I also acknowledge the important work of the Library and Research Service, which published a digest on the Bill and circulated it yesterday. That is important. The kernel of all of this is that pre-legislative scrutiny is important. It brings value to legislation. The Minister's party colleagues and his colleagues across the Houses are represented on the committee.

The Bill comprises 17 sections and three Parts. I want to focus on Part 2, which I have a particular interest in. First, I wish to state that confidence in An Bord Pleanála is waning fast. The Minister and I both know that. I put in a freedom of information request to An Bord Pleanála to check some facts once I realised there were issues with the board. I think everyone knew there were problems with the board. We must not forget that the Minister's party was a partner in the previous Government, although it was not a coalition government. The strategic housing developments, SHDs, were a challenge for the board. I was a member of the committee and I constantly raised the issue. Indeed, the Minister was a member of the committee for some of that time. We flagged that there was a problem with resources. The final SHDs are really only flushing through the system now. The large-scale developments are also placing huge pressures on the board. I wrote to the board. I will share the correspondence with the Minister later. I want to reference one letter dated 6 October 2021, addressed to "Dave". Dave happens to be Mr. Dave Walsh, the chairperson of An Bord Pleanála. The letter is one of a number I received. Clearly, there were tensions between the Minister's Department and the board on the appointment of staff. The chairman made cases for the recruitment of staff, and the Department's principal officers responded that there were serious concerns on the part of the Department in terms of legal and corporate services. The letter stated that the Department was also agreeable to an increase in resources to support the planning and the digitalisation that has been discussed. The letter went on to note that a sanction request form would need to be completed for each and every post filled by the board. That is all proper housekeeping and good governance. I am not suggesting there is anything wrong with that. However, I ask the Minister to look again at the blockages between his Department and the board, in terms of the frustrations that the board expressed about filling posts. I am happy to share the correspondence with the Minister in a constructive way. I do not think it is appropriate to keep reading into the context of it. The request is on the FOI register and I am happy to share it with the Minister. I acknowledge that there are some many good people in An Bord Pleanála, who do an exceptionally good job. I support the Minister's call for an interim chair to be appointed to the board. That is essential. We have to get on with it. I do not support the calls to abolish An Bord Pleanála, but I support the calls for reform. I think that is we where we can do something with it.

Clearly, the credibility of and confidence in An Bord Pleanála is at an all-time low. Much of that is due to its failure to deal with its applications in a timely manner and, more importantly, to explain in a open and transparent way the rationale of many of its appeal decisions. That is a matter of concern. The public at large are unable to understand why the decisions of An Bord Pleanála inspectors are overturned by the board. We have heard some suggestions - which are only suggestions, might I add - in the media of outcomes being manipulated. We have heard of frustration being expressed by members within An Bord Pleanála in the exercising of their functions. They are only allegations. At this point I want to make a request of the Minister. A number of inquiries and investigations were set in place. When it is appropriate to do so, the Minister should make a full statement on them. The public at large wants to know what is happening. We know there are ongoing investigations behind the scenes, and there is good reason for that. However, there is a need to instill in the public a sense of confidence in the independent planning board.

I also want to raise to the issue of panels. The Minister's colleague, and president of the Association of Irish Local Government, Councillor Pat Fitzpatrick from Kilkenny County Council, wrote to every member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage via email yesterday. He has made a request, which I think is a reasonable one. Indeed, I wrote to him last night to indicate that I would raise the matter here. The request is that the panels be retained. We need to reform the panel system. We discussed the matter at the committee meeting earlier. It is true that the panel system is not good enough, it has failed and it has shortcomings. We should look at reviewing the panel structures. I want to make a strong case today that local government has a role to play. Local authorities should not individually pick people, but they should have a consultative role and feed into some reformed panel system. As someone who is strongly committed to local government, I ask the Minister to look at that proposal or to come up with something more imaginative perhaps.

In principle, I support most of this legislation. We need a planning system that is open, transparent, honest and full of integrity. We want an appeals system that is fit for purpose and is resourced by the Minister and the Government. I note a substantial increase in funding has been provided in budget 2023, which is to be welcomed. We want to bring people into the planning process and to journey with the citizens. I am not in the business of excluding people from a process. The reality is that so many community groups have had to come together to raise funds to take judicial reviews. They are not bad people. They are making a case and have a right to do so. They have a right to an audience and to be heard. It is important that the message does not go out from the Minister, the Government or this House that in some way we are out to frustrate, block or stymy people in their participation in a public planning process. I would like to see language that talks about inclusiveness and enabling people to participate. People do not dip their hands into their pockets and hand their cash to a load of lawyers lightly.They had no option. That was partly because of the historical SHD system and no third-party appeals. I accept that we need reform, but we need to bring the community groups with us.

I acknowledge all those who made submissions to the pre-legislative scrutiny process, namely: Maria Graham and the staff at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the Irish Environmental Network; the Irish Planning Institute; the Office of the Planning Regulator; the Marine Renewables Industry Association; An Taisce; the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland; and Coastwatch. They made submissions and came in good faith to engage in this process. I wish the Minister well with the Bill but let us not put up blocks or send out messages suggesting we are against citizens' participation in our planning process.

John Cummins (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister and thank him for choosing Seanad Éireann as the venue for the introduction of this very important legislation. The Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill provides for the efficient discharge of business of An Bord Pleanála; I will touch on that shortly. It also makes some minor amendments to the Foreshore Act 1933 to ensure that the body of water above the seabed is included in the definition of the foreshore. Along with other Members, I attended the briefing with departmental officials yesterday. I thank those officials for making themselves available to Senators for questions on the Bill.

My two Seanad colleagues mentioned the difficulties at An Bord Pleanála of which we are all very well aware. Confidence in the board has deteriorated over the past 12 months. The revelations of the governance issues are a deep concern to all of us. That is why it is essential and timely to have this legislation in order to ensure we can appoint an interim chairperson to take the helm at the organisation and bring about the change that is needed within that organisation. The Bill provides that the board will have 14 members but can be go beyond that where the Minister deems it necessary. I would argue that he will need to go beyond those 14 members in light of the acute challenges we are all aware of in meeting timelines for planning decisions, not just in respect of housing developments but also with consents for offshore wind energy projects, which all go through An Bord Pleanála.

Despite what builders and developers want, it is not possible to have certainty in the planning system. It is not possible to guarantee that something will come out the way that they want. However, we can have predictability on the timelines. That is very important both in this and the wider review of the planning legislation which is ongoing at present. What is happening cannot continue. I refer to situations where a planning decision is appealed to An Bord Pleanála, reaches the deadline, An Bord Pleanála informs the developer that it has not been able to meet the deadline and is extending it to a future date and then the developer does not hear about the matter again. Many housing developments are in the ether of having gone past the deadline and gone through the extended timeline. When they contact An Bord Pleanála, it states that it cannot give a time as to when a decision will be made. That is simply unacceptable when we have such an acute shortage of housing. The Minister will need to go beyond the 14 members in that regard.

As the officials said yesterday and as the Minister said today, the foreshore piece is a minor amendment that has arisen more as a clarification of the existing provisions. Wind Energy Ireland has expressed some concerns in that context. Those concerns relate more to speeding up the process of applications for surveying. We all know how important offshore wind is in meeting our 2030 targets for emissions reductions. The sector is being hamstrung as a result of not being able to get through the process. Again, it comes back to the timelines. In the wider review of planning legislation, we need to consider significant penalties for An Bord Pleanála not meeting its deadlines.

I appreciate that the Minister will provide more details on Thursday in the form of the amendments he intends to bring forward. From what he has outlined, it seems he is exempting certain developments from the planning process or expediting the planning process, as he put it, in the context of modern building technology. I assume he is referring to rapid-build homes. We are often criticised for not utilising those modern building techniques. They have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, and could provide a quicker and more efficient housing solutions in the short term. I look forward to hearing the Minister expand that matter.

From what the Minister outlined, I understand that the chief executive will be required to have consulted elected members and he or she will be required to give a public notice of the proposed development. Am I to assume that if the chief executive is so minded, it will not require a vote of elected members and that the chief executive may proceed with a development but must consult? I ask the Minister to expand on that. Everyone in the House will support any endeavour on the part of the Minister to speed up the delivery of social and affordable homes for individuals and families throughout the country. We need to ensure that we get it right. I am sure that the Minister's team along with the Attorney General are poring over that as we speak. I look forward to those amendments coming before the House on Thursday.

Frances Black (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister. I am disappointed that, once again, right before recess, the Government is rushing legislation through this House with no regard for proper parliamentary process or legislative scrutiny. That is disrespectful in the context of how our parliamentary democracy should function. I urge all Members to reflect on the fact that our constitutional role and mandate here are not being respected. The Bill was only published in full at the end of last week. Second Stage is being taken today. On Thursday, we will have Committee and Remaining Stages. As we will have no distinct Report Stage, we will have no opportunity to submit Report Stage amendments. I am concerned about the entire Bill being rushed through the House inside a week.

What is happening is disappointing because the alleged conduct on the part of An Bord Pleanála that has been revealed in recent months has deeply impacted on public trust. I am concerned that the manner in which this legislation is being conducted will further erode public trust in the institution. For that very reason, this legislation could really benefit from more robust and thorough scrutiny. A very thoughtful and transparent legislative response to the An Bord Pleanála scandals might have gone some way towards restoring some of the public confidence that has been eroded.We want the public to have confidence and trust in our planning system. An independent planning system is part of a functioning democracy. That independence is threatened by this Bill.

I also want to express my concern that we will not see a substantial number of the proposed provisions of the Bill until Committee Stage. The Minister has indicated that he will bring forward amendments to provide for the accelerated delivery of social housing on local authority lands in exceptional circumstances in the absence of normal planning prerequisites such as environmental impact assessments. I am particularly concerned by reports that the Minister intends to table amendments to give himself the power to unilaterally rezone land for social housing. We all know that we are in a housing emergency . We desperately need social housing, but local authorities and councillors should be empowered to deliver social housing on public land. The proposal in this regard would amount to a drastic overreach by central government into the area of power of local government. That the Minister would expect Members of this House, 43 of whom are elected by councillors, to sign off on a drastic interference with councillors' powers and role is unacceptable. Attempting to introduce this amendment in the Dáil to circumvent the Seanad would add to the litany of abuses of proper process we have seen with this Bill.

There is a sensible provision in the Bill that seeks to address one specific governance issue at An Bord Pleanála. The extensive abuse of the two-person quorum highlighted by The Ditchis a serious issue. The provision in section 9 to remove the option of a two-person quorum is probably sensible in light of the evidence that this mechanism has been repeatedly misused.

Unfortunately, there seems to be little sense to other proposed reforms within the Bill. I am concerned by the provisions that seem to give undue powers to the Minister to dictate the size and composition of the board. The Bill grants powers to the Minister to increase the number of ordinary members of the board virtually at his discretion. Most disturbing is that protections within the existing Act that require the Minister to obtain Oireachtas approval before expanding the board are being removed. The Bill will also remove any existing limits on the proportion of board members that can be appointed by the Minister. Currently, no more than one third of the ordinary members can be appointed by the Minister. The Bill will remove this limit.

If we are to have an honest conversation about this legislation, then we must be frank about the fact that the reforms I have just outlined amount to a power grab. Under the proposed new rules, a future Minister could theoretically expand the board by whatever number of ordinary members, and stack it with his or her own appointees. While the Minister may not have any intention of using the powers to which I refer in such a way, we just do know how future Ministers might misuse them. We must be mindful of that. The legislation we pass in this House should be future-proofed and should contain sufficient safeguards against any potential abuse of power. I am afraid that the Bill fails this very important test.

It is clear that the undermining of public trust in An Bord Pleanála requires a complete review of the appointment and oversight processes of the board. I am concerned that this Bill does not deliver the additional safeguards, scrutiny and oversight that are so badly needed and instead delivers a short-term, quick-fix solution to address a backlog of planning applications. I am surprised not to see rigorous standards set out in the Bill in respect of the declaration of interests of board members and other key issues. I am also surprised by the weak provisions in respect of the required expertise of board members and cannot understand why there are not far more robust measures as to the qualifications of board members.

It seems clear that what a future board needs in order to regain the faith of the public is absolute transparency and rigorous oversight. Instead, the Bill proposes a system that seems to rest largely on discretion. The discretion of the Minister seems to be the main basis for determining the appointment of civil servants to the board, the qualifications of members, and other crucial issues. We also see these words cropping up in regard to the chairperson. I am disappointed to see it stated in section 10 that it will be at the chairperson's absolute discretion as to whether he or she will investigate complaints made against board members. I wonder how this discretion-led system could possibly be a winning formula for reviving public confidence in our planning institutions.

I have mentioned public trust a number of times . It is a phrase I keep coming back to because it should be guiding these reforms and yet it seems utterly absent from the conversation. Public trust in the board has been decimated. It is up to us to restore this trust and to legitimise the planning process once again. I am deeply concerned that this Bill will fail to achieve that very important aim.

Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister and his officials. I also thank the officials for the briefing they provided yesterday.

I begin by expressing again my deep concern and unease, as many others have done, about the introduction of legislation in this last-minute fashion. Like others, I wish to place on record the fact that is not a good way to make law. There have been far too many instances of last-minute rushed legislation from both this Government and that which preceded it. This has resulted in a range of unintended consequences and measures.

Planning legislation is particularly complex and must be dealt with in a thorough, considered and comprehensive manner. It should be adequately scrutinised, discussed and debated over a sufficient period of time. The manner in which the Minister has chosen to introduce this legislation has eroded and undermined much of this crucial consideration. While I acknowledge Senator Doherty’s refusal to concede to the Minister’s request to have all Stages of the Bill taken in one day, I nonetheless continue to have grave concerns about this process.

I am particularly concerned by the Minister’s disregard for the pre-legislative scrutiny process and the work that was undertaken by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Time-honoured procedure and best practice require a committee to complete pre-legislative scrutiny, send the report to the Minister, the Minister and their officials then consider the report and either publish or perhaps make changes to the legislation on the back of the report. The joint committee only met this morning to finalise its report and to address amendments. The gazumping of the pre-legislative scrutiny process makes a mockery of the significant work undertaken by the committee to date and prevented my colleagues in the Seanad and I from considering this report before the deadline for amendments fell due this morning. Prior to 11 a.m. was the only point at which we could avail of the opportunity to submit Committee Stage amendments.

It is crucial that we get this legislation right. An Bord Pleanála is an institution in crisis. If is affected by bad management and bad decisions. Bad underlying legislation has led to a collapse in public confidence in the work of the board. The board is repeatedly making legally questionable decisions on SHDs that are then being challenged successfully in the courts. These challenges not only cost the taxpayer millions of euros but result in undue delays to developments. They also fundamentally undermine public confidence in the board. The board is also delaying decisions on controversial SHDs, which costs the taxpayer through fines. More than €1 million has been paid out to developers in this regard. There is no doubt that reform is needed. However, given that the more substantive changes to the board are to be included in the Bill, can the Minister clarify why these aspects have been detached from it?

The reform proposed in the Bill is rushed and does not adequately address the public concerns about the board. We need a clear, open and transparent process that is independent of the Department and the Minister. The proposed reforms do not provide for this. The proposals in the Bill are too general and do not provide sufficient clarity as to what the procedures for appointment would be. As the old saying goes, justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done. I propose that the board must not only be independent, it must also be seen to be independent.

The proposed method of appointment that has been put forward does not guarantee sufficient independence from the Minister and his Department. Appointment of a member of the Civil Service to a position such as that of interim chairperson is entirely unsatisfactory. In order for the board to be independent of the Government, this role must be filled by someone with appropriate professional expertise and not by someone coming from within a Department. We do not need to reinvent the wheel, however. Retaining and improving the panel system would provide more effective reform and would address the actual issues that have resulted in the lack of public confidence that exists.However, the board should be extended to include environmental organisations and organisations representing citizen and community interests. This combined with an open and transparent interview process of public competition would create a hybrid system that takes the best of both the panel system and the open, transparent and competitive public application process.

We welcome the fact the Government has removed air space from the definition of foreshore. Nonetheless, serious problems remain with the Foreshore Act 1933, specifically the licensing regime that is not fit for purpose. However, I will raise these concerns and provide more technical comments when tabling amendments on Committee Stage.

The Minister said he will bring forward an amendment to the Cabinet that would introduce other amendments to the Bill that are related to social housing. We will look favourably on anything that accelerates the delivery of social and affordable housing, however, Members have not seen nor been briefed on these amendments. Given the extent of the emergency we are facing, I urge him to publish the amendments on social housing either today or tomorrow and to provide a briefing on them by tomorrow at the latest.

We want to work with the Government and the Minister to provide social and affordable homes, but introducing complex last-minute legislation intended to amend planning and procurement processes is a huge cause for concern. It disrespects the Legislature and the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Rebecca Moynihan (Labour)
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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.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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A vote has been called in the Dáil Chamber.

Rebecca Moynihan (Labour)
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That is fine. I am finished.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I will check with the Government Whip, but I believe I am required to attend the vote in the Dáil, unfortunately. Beidh mé ar ais.

Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Acting Leader to propose a suspension of the House.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I so propose.

Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party)
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I have long felt that An Bord Pleanála needed reform. I spoke at the oral hearing in relation to the ring road. Although I had no particular personal interest in it, I had an environmental interest. I will wait until our guests have left.

Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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I apologise for the interruption, Senator. Silence in the House, please.

Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party)
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I have concerns around An Bord Pleanála regarding some of the decisions in particular. There are instances of the board's inspector being overruled. While the board is entitled to do that, it is happening all too often. That raises significant questions. Regarding the ring road in particular, before a decision was made by the High Court, An Bord Pleanála conceded that it had not taken into consideration the climate action plan. It has specific obligations as a relevant body under the climate Act. It was aware of those obligations for some time before this decision was made. It is beyond time and it is correct that the Minister is taking urgent steps to reform An Bord Pleanála. In this way, the Minister is doing that in a number of ways such as increasing the size and ensuring that the quorum could not be reduced; they are worthy and important pieces of the legislation. It is also important to point out, which I think the Minister did in his speech, that there is no way we are not going to see EIAs completed; that is simply not correct. It is important that the public understands that.

People have concerns, one of which is that legislation could stop us from taking judicial reviews. It is important for the Minister to come back on that point because we want there to be no doubt but that we have the ability to take judicial reviews. As I have been forthright that I would back and support anybody who took a judicial review on the ring road in particular, I do not want to stand over that. We have urgent renewable energy targets that we must meet. In some instances, however, applications for foreshore licences are taking up to 20 months whereas in Britain, it takes 15 to 20 weeks. We are completely out of step and because of that, it means we cannot compete. It is a competition at the moment to get renewable energy companies investing in Ireland and off our shores. We can do all we like with the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, but if we cannot speed up the foreshore licence element, we will still be in difficulty. Therefore, it has to be done. There is a concern in the industry, of which I am sure the Minister is aware, that there also may be issues around the elements introducing this Act on the foreshore. Will the Minister comment now or on Thursday about the concerns expressed by the industry? We must ensure that we do all we can to protect the marine environment. I hope that is what this Bill will do. There are plenty of opportunities for the Minister's Department to look at it and come back with amendments; it is not going to be completed this week or by Christmas. It is going to go to the Dáil after Christmas. At that point, from what I understand, if what we are hearing is correct, there will be Government amendments in any case, which means there is an opportunity, if it is felt amendments are needed, for other amendments. If there are Government amendments, it will have to come back to the Seanad following that. Those are all the stages.

There were concerns around the speed of this going through. It was unfortunate that pre-legislative scrutiny was not completed until today or published until today. It is important to take the time now to make sure that everything that was submitted during the pre-legislative scrutiny stage is looked at properly by the Department. Fundamentally, however, we have to see these kinds of reforms, particularly in the make-up of An Bord Pleanála, if we are to see significant changes in how the board carries out its functions. It is not just about the delays, it is about decisions which are highly questionable, when the board itself admits it did not take into consideration key legislation and key elements of Government plans.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senators for their thoughtful contributions today. To put this in context, it is about urgent interim measures regarding An Bord Pleanála. Senator Moynihan and other Senators raised issues about the need for a consolidated planning Bill; we are doing that. We are bringing forward consolidated planning legislation, which I intend to bring to Cabinet on 13 December. It is the culmination of about 15 months of work looking at the various issues regarding planning since the Planning and Development Act 2000 and bringing that into a consolidated item of legislation. Should it get Cabinet approval, we will publish the Bill, hopefully in advance of Christmas, and that would then go to pre-legislative scrutiny early in the new year.

On Senator Pauline O'Reilly's point, that other legislation leaves it open for changes to be made that people may wish to see in that legislation. I hope, with the agreement of both Houses, that the consolidated legislation will pass by the end of the first quarter next year. We are implementing this Bill now because at present, there are five members of An Bord Pleanála; there is effectively no chairperson and there have been a number of highly critical reports that are not in the public domain for legal reasons. It is important that people see the content of them once the legal process is concluded; I have had said that publicly. The existing Act provides for the appointment of interim board members and we need to do that but the Minister cannot appoint a chairperson under the existing legislation right now. A deputy chair needs to be in place, which I have moved, to a point, but this Bill will give the deputy chairperson the powers of an interim chairperson. A director of planning that can allocate files to people is also needed. A big part of this Bill is making sure that the board can function right now at board level. Many Senators, such as Senators Cummins, Boyhan, Fitzpatrick and others have called for a transparent appointment process within An Bord Pleanála and that is what this Bill, once enacted, will bring forward. There will be a clear, transparent public appointment system through an expert panel that will advise the Minister. The current panel system is archaic and is not fit for purpose. By passing this legislation, we will reform that system and create a modern planning system for a modern Ireland. The measures we are taking in this Bill mean that we can bring the capacity of An Bord Pleanála in terms of board members up to what is needed, that is, up to 14 or 15 board members. We need that number to carry out the work that is there.

Senators have raised the issue, rightly so, of resourcing of the board. With Government colleagues, I approved 24 additional posts through the board earlier this year and more are being appointed now. We are looking at the workforce plan. We have also got agreement that there will be a director of legal affairs sitting on the board, which we want.We are moving forward right now, including with the advertisement for the marine planning expert to underpin what we want to do for our maritime area, around protecting and enhancing its biodiversity and restoring some the lost biodiversity and also harnessing the offshore renewable capacity and doing so in the right way. That is why the Seanad, although not with the agreement of all parties, passed the Maritime Area Planning Act to ensure that we tidy up and making it more efficient particularly around granting marine area consents for foreshore.

Senators Cummins and Pauline O'Reilly mentioned concerns that may have been raised by the wind energy sector. All we are doing with the foreshore amendments is clarifying an issue that came up in the summer. It is to ensure that it is dealt with and that it is very clear that the column of water above it is covered under the Act. That was raised with us and we were asked to deal with it. There are no further changes to it but people will know that once MARA is established, which I intend will happen in the first month of next year, where we have the board in place and will have a chief executive in place, then the marine area consents will be done through it. There will be a streamlined process. Senator O'Reilly rightly mentioned the difference between how long it takes to provide consents in Ireland compared with our nearest neighbour and that is not sustainable. As a country, we either want to be able to move forward in an efficient but respectful way, respecting our marine environment, with the offshore renewables or we do not. That is why the Maritime Area Planning Act is important. I thought we would get that through the Houses without dissent but we did not. There are people who say they want it but they do not want that legislation.

I have made a commitment to the Dáil that once we get approval at the Cabinet tomorrow on the amendments, which are about expediting the delivery of social and affordable housing on land that is already zoned and has already been identified by the local authority and is owned by a local authority or a State agency such as the HSE, that we will, of course, provide a briefing. That will form part of this Bill. I am doing that because I want it to be in place in January. A few weeks ago, people were calling for emergency measures. We have done emergency measures like the winter eviction ban but when we bring something forward that seeks to help that and address it, then people say they will not vote for something they have not seen. They will see that. I would say to Senator Moynihan that she will see the amendment in advance of voting for it. We will provide briefings on it too. We are very serious about using that amendment to ensure we can further step-up the delivery of social and affordable housing.

Senators Cummins and Fitzpatrick spoke about specifically focusing on using off-site construction, modular build. Some of the development land here has been in council ownership for decades but has not been developed. Everyone here will know schemes like that. The three parties in government have decided to provide a write-down of legacy debt on council lands, which councils hold but have been unable to develop, and we are tying that in with this. The State will write-down councils' debt if they bring forward schemes that we can start developing in 2023. It is responding directly to the housing need that we have right now.

Every Senator and all parties and none will have an opportunity to support this Bill or not. I respect the different views people have but we are either serious about the situation right now or we are not. No one is gazumping pre-legislative scrutiny, by the way. I want to remind Senators that the measures here were approved by the Cabinet on 4 October and we sent it forward for pre-legislative scrutiny on 4 October. Early on, some detailed engagement happened. It was the pre-legislative scrutiny report that was outstanding. That is all. It was not as though there were no discussions or briefings. That all happened. Maybe we need to look at how the pre-legislative scrutiny system itself works. I believe completely in pre-legislative scrutiny but these are measures that we need to take now to make sure the board is operating at capacity. We should do that.

I am trying to find the exact date when we sent it. On 4 October, the An Bord Pleanála reform agenda was agreed by the Cabinet and was then submitted for pre-legislative scrutiny which commenced on 10 November. Today is 6 December and it has been nearly two months. I am talking about legislation that was not that complex for those who read the Bill. We must also look at how long it takes to do pre-legislative scrutiny. Committees are busy. I really respect the work the joint committee has done on many things but we are looking at interim reform measures, which some of these measures are. The full reform agenda for An Bord Pleanála will be part of the consolidated planning Bill I will bring to the Cabinet on 13 December, which will come to the Seanad and the Dáil early next year after pre-legislative scrutiny.

I urge Senators to support the legislation in the spirit in which it has been asked. We have had to get the agreement of the Leader and the Seanad on this and I thank Members for having seen the urgency of the measures we need to bring forward. There will be further discussions on Thursday. I give a commitment. I am serious about delivering more social and affordable homes. This year this Government will deliver more social homes than have been delivered decades as well as affordable homes for purchase and rent for the first time in a generation and cost rental for the first time ever but I want to ramp that up. That is why we are bringing forward a time-bound measure to expedite planning for that particular cohort. It is about using modern methods of construction, which we will bring forward by way of an amendment on Thursday. I give a commitment that once the amendment has been approved by the Cabinet, we will provide a briefing on it in advance of Committee Stage on Thursday. I thank all the Senators who contributed to the debate in a pretty constructive way.

Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for sticking with the Seanad when he was under pressure from the other House.

Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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Thursday.