Department has 'no timeline' for publication of report into alleged planning corruption
Minister Niall Matter "considering" Darragh Housing Picture: The Is File Wire Carson/pa O'brien
Calls have been made from within and outside the Government parties to publish a report on alleged planning corruption in Donegal, four years after it was completed.
Senior Counsel Rory Mulcahy was appointed in 2015 to conduct a review into allegations from whistleblower Gerard Convie that there were severe irregularities in the local council's planning department in the early 2000s.
He presented a dossier of 20 sample cases to the Government in 2010, prompting then Green Party environment minister John Gormley to launch an independent review. That process was abandoned in 2011 with the change of government and his successor, Phil Hogan, ordered an internal review. That was completed in 2012 and concluded there was no evidence of irregularities and questioned Mr Convie’s motive in making the claims.
Mr Convie challenged the findings in the High Court and in 2013 the Department of Environment had to withdraw the review, overturn the findings, and apologise to Mr Convie.
Mr Mulcahy delivered his report in June 2017, but it has yet to be published. In a recent parliamentary response, Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien that he is "considering the matter" and will bring it to Cabinet "in due course". A spokesperson told the that there is "no timeline" on when this might happen.
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin, who asked Mr O'Brien for the update on the report said that it was "baffling" that it had yet to be published. He said that if there were changes needed to the planning framework either in Donegal or the country generally, then those changes needed to be made.
"The allegations are really serious and I see no reason why this report wouldn't be published. If there was nothing of significance, this would have been published a long time ago. It needs to be published as a matter of urgency.
Green Party TD Patrick Costello said that the delay was "ludicrous" and said that the whistleblower had already been proven to be right about a number of other issues.
"The fact that the report has been waiting for four years is ludicrous. There are really serious matters.
"This is borne out of huge concerns with planning. What has been going on in other counties where there haven't been whistleblowers?
"If the findings are that serious then they need to be investigated. The attempts to investigate have run into establishment challenges.
"We need to address this. We need to address planning and corruption in Ireland."