Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice has called on An Bord Pleanála to “consider their positions” regarding planning regulations, stating that if they do not do so “the government must do it for them.”
The TD for the Roscommon-Galway constituency further added that, “An Bord Pleanála has totally lost the confidence of builders, developers, politicians, and most important of all the public they are supposed to serve. There is real concern that ineptitude far from being confined to a couple of people is systemic. The question is not whether there is a problem. It is how big is the problem and whether it is curable.”
Dep Fitzmaurice went on to state that An Bord Pleanála is “adding to the housing crisis”, with “much-needed housing and infrastructure cannot be built if we don’t have an efficient and transparent planning process. They could start by dragging themselves out of the Victorian age. It is appalling that in this day and age the processing of files by An Bord Pleanála is almost entirely paper-based. An Bord Pleanála needs to ditch the quills, parchment, and ink bottles and dare to enter the current century.
“It is especially astonishing that the organisation did not even have its own legal team up to recently. The minister must move beyond stop-gap patch-ups and toward final solutions. There is no point in painting the house if the foundations are rotten. An Bord Pleanála needs demolishing and a new purpose-built entity established in its place. The minister has cross-party and Independent TD-led planning permission to act bravely and decisively.”
Dep Fitzmaurice concluded by stating that the planning authority is “damaging our international reputation let alone our domestic one. They are also impairing the capacity of families to build homes and for communities to grow, thrive, and prosper. It’s time to clean the house, turn over stones, and let the light in.”
