Planning board salaries should be halved, says TD, amid allegations of impropriety

The salaries paid to members of An Bord Pleanála (ABP) should be halved as the annual bill amounts to almost €1 million, which is “way beyond what is required”, the Dáil has heard.

The call was made during a debate on the controversy surrounding the planning authority amid continuing investigations into claims of impropriety and conflicts of interest.

Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews highlighted the wages of the seven members of ABP, which include €204,000 for the chair, €144,000 for the deputy chair and €127,000 for ordinary members.

The Dublin Bay South TD said this added up “to almost a million a year for seven members” and “these rates cannot be justified given the jobs they are doing”.

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Rural Independent TD Mattie McGrath went further and said that at the very least “they should halve the salaries”.

“Why do they need that kind of money to go on it [the board]?” he asked.

The Tipperary TD said “it’s big pay, big money and big everything else”. He added that “it’s rotten” and really should be disbanded.

Mr Andrews had noted a 2016 performance review of the organisation and said the recommendations arising from this were not acted on. These wages went “way beyond” what is required for the work they did, he added.

He said the board should either be disbanded or “radically, radically reformed” to “replace what is a discredited institution”.

The planning authority has been mired in controversy following a series of some 29 reports by website The Ditch about planning decisions alleging conflicts of interest and inappropriate actions.

Former ABP deputy chairman Paul Hyde, who resigned in July during an investigation by senior counsel Remy Farrell for Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, has always denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Farrell’s report, which was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions, An Garda Síochána and the Standards in Public Office Commission, will not be published until gardaí have completed their investigation and a decision is made on any possible prosecutions. The Office of the Planning Regulator is separately conducting a two-stage review of the board with the assistance of international experts.

The Minister, who opened the debate, said the planning system had to be made “fit for purpose” and a series of reforms “will be rolled out without delaying critical housing and infrastructural development”. Mr O’Brien, who is not known for taking on board Opposition proposals, said he had asked party spokespeople for their input and pledged that “I will engage with their specific proposals”.

He planned to deal with specific allegations of wrongdoing, implement internal reform of the board’s “process, procedures and workforce plans” and introduce a “fundamental overhaul” of the authority’s nomination process and its broader legislative framework.

“The public must have trust in the impartiality and integrity of our planning system if it is to function effectively in facilitating the sustainable development this country needs,” he said.

The planning system deals with about 30,000 applications a year, some 10 per cent of which are appealed to the board, which also deals with strategic infrastructure.

Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin asked what the chair and the director of the board “were doing while these alleged breaches were happening over and over again”.

“How many decisions have potentially been compromised by decisions that are in breach of protocols and procedures?” he asked.