Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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348. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will provide a full report on the actions and investigations being taken on foot of the reports of the Flood and Mahon and Moriarty tribunals; the status of these investigations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10267/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Following the publication of the Moriarty Tribunal Report in March 2011, my Department examined and considered the recommendations in the Report in relation to political funding. The Tribunal recommended that the income of political parties be disclosed and that political donations, apart from those under a modest threshold, be reported.

The Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012, (the 2012 Act), addressed issues that were central to the recommendations on political funding made in the Moriarty Tribunal Report. The 2012 Act significantly enhanced the openness and transparency of political funding in Ireland and brought into force restrictions on corporate donations and considerable reductions in the maximum amount that a political party or an individual can accept as a political donation. The donation limit for a political party was reduced from €6,348.69 to €2,500, while for an individual politician or candidate it fell from €2,539.48 to €1,000. A limit of €200 was placed on donations in cash. The threshold for the receipt of anonymous donations was reduced to €100. The donation threshold amount that gives rise to the requirement to open a political donations account was reduced to €100. Anonymous indirect donations were banned. The threshold at which political party donations must be reported and published was reduced from €5,078.95 to €1,500.

The 2012 Act also provides for the disclosure and public inspection of the accounts of registered political parties. In this connection, parties are required to have their accounts audited each year and to submit to the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) an Annual Statement of Accounts and a copy of the auditor’s report on the accounts.

These requirements first applied for the year 2015 and in December 2016, SIPO furnished the Political Parties Statement of Accounts Report 2015 to the Chairman of Dáil Éireann. The report with the Statements of Accounts is published on the SIPO website.

The Final Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments (otherwise known as the Mahon Tribunal) published in March 2012, made a total of 64 recommendations, 10 of which were planning- related. While some of the planning-related recommendations have already been implemented, the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016, published January 2016, is primarily intended to give legislative effect to the remaining planning-related recommendations proposed to be implemented. The Bill provides for the implementation of the following recommendations:

- the establishment of a new independent Office of the Planning Regulator,

- the statutory underpinning of the proposed new national planning framework as a successor to the 2002 National Spatial Strategy, and

- other updates to the Planning and Development Act 2000 that are necessary to deliver greater transparency, efficiency and integrity in the planning system

The Bill has commenced its Oireachtas passage and is currently awaiting Committee Stage in the Dáil.

Issues in relation to any criminal investigations arising from the Mahon Tribunal are a matter for An Garda Síochána.