Irish Examiner view: We have to reform the Irish planning system

Concerns about governance at An Bord Pleanála have been ignored for over a decade and must be addressed now
Irish Examiner view: We have to reform the Irish planning system

Concerning Have Prosecutions Papers File An And Hyde Paul The To The Bord Pleanála Picture Director Involving Controversy Public Of Gone

Now that papers concerning the former An Bord Pleanála official Paul Hyde have gone to the DPP, commentators become more constrained in discussing the case than in the recent months of speculation.  

Not that this development suspends the work of Ireland’s planning overlords and its quasijudicial function in determining the future of projects and developments which are fundamental for the State and its citizens in these challenging times.

The authority has been subject to numerous High Court challenges for its role in fast-tracking large housing schemes — there is no more sensitive subject than homes as we enter late summer — and the fact it now has to answer directly to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien every month is an indication of the seriousness with which the situation is viewed inside Government.

Add to that the establishment of an internal review procedure to look at “further allegations of wrongdoing” and we can see the controversy is not going to go away soon. That will be damaging for the board’s authority and credibility.

Mr Hyde stepped back from his duties at An Bord Pleanála “without prejudice” on May 9, resigning from the board
entirely on July 8. He has always denied any impropriety.

The challenge for his erstwhile organisation will be to find an effective modus operandi which allows business to continue at pace for the benefit of the nation. Mr O’Brien has commissioned an independent review by the Office of the Planning Regulator and has sanctioned a substantial number of new appointments. A plan is due to be presented to the Cabinet shortly.

But we’ve been here before. 

As Mick Clifford highlights in today’s Irish Examiner, an independent review was published back in 2016. It too raised concerns about governance, but its recommendations were largely ignored. All the while, public confidence in An Bord Pleanála is fast eroding. What’s needed is action, not more hollow words.

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