Victor Boyhan: Questions timing of exempt development motions
Victor Boyhan addresses the Dáil on the sudden referral of seven motions about exempt development and challenges the timing and process behind their placement on today’s order of business. He warns Ministers he will submit FOI requests if the promised public consultation is not published and welcomes the referral to the Joint Office Committee.
Victor Boyhan says he supports referral of the motions to committee but asks why items one to seven, all dealing with exempt development, were scheduled today rather than weeks earlier. He highlights that these matters form a substantive part of the legislation to be debated later the same day.
Boyhan draws attention to the limited time available for discussion after the legislation was guillotined in the Dáil the previous night. He warns this constrains meaningful opposition and underscores the long-term nature of planning decisions.
Citing a recent Irish Times theme that public participation is not the enemy of progress, Boyhan tells the House he contacted both Ministers and said he would submit a series of FOIs if the public consultation was not published today. He confirms Ministers are aware of that position.
Boyhan welcomes the referral of the motions to the Joint Office Committee, though he expresses regret it took so long to arrive. He says he will revisit the issues later in the planning debate and stresses the importance of clarity and public scrutiny in planning processes.
Context of the intervention
Victor Boyhan says he supports referral of the motions to committee but asks why items one to seven, all dealing with exempt development, were scheduled today rather than weeks earlier. He highlights that these matters form a substantive part of the legislation to be debated later the same day.
Procedure and timing concerns
Boyhan draws attention to the limited time available for discussion after the legislation was guillotined in the Dáil the previous night. He warns this constrains meaningful opposition and underscores the long-term nature of planning decisions.
Public scrutiny and FOI action
Citing a recent Irish Times theme that public participation is not the enemy of progress, Boyhan tells the House he contacted both Ministers and said he would submit a series of FOIs if the public consultation was not published today. He confirms Ministers are aware of that position.
Committee referral and next steps
Boyhan welcomes the referral of the motions to the Joint Office Committee, though he expresses regret it took so long to arrive. He says he will revisit the issues later in the planning debate and stresses the importance of clarity and public scrutiny in planning processes.
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Transcript
Thank you Comhairleach. I'm just reminded listening to some of the contributions today in relation to planning and of course I welcome the fact that we will of course be discussing planning later on with the Minister. It occurred to me and a reoccurring theme of a really good article in the Irish Times during the week which captioned public participation and scrutiny in the planning processes are not enemies of progress and I hope we'll remember that today as we reflect on a number of issues. Leader I want to raise the issue of the order of business today items one, two, three, four, five, six and seven and they all relate to exempt development and one has to ask the question why today? Why not three or four weeks ago? And I support the referral of these motions to the committee for their consideration but you will of course be aware or everyone here should be aware that these will be a substantive part of the legislation we'll be considering later today. You will also be aware that this legislation was guillotined in the Dáil last night. You will also be aware of the limited amount of time that we have to discuss this issue and it all might be very well at the moment because the odds are stacked against meaningful opposition but that's what we have to live with at the moment but time moves, time is cyclical, cyclical in politics. There'll be people on this side of the house that will be here in the next election, there'll also be people on this side or this side that mightn't even be here at all so time moves on but planning is a long-term thing. So what I will finish and say Minister, Leader, I welcome the fact that he's been referred to the committee albeit late. I'll be revisiting this later on in the debate on planning and I would ask that the Minister yet again, I will ask publicly and put on the record, I contacted both Ministers yesterday and I informed them that if the public consultation in relation to these matters was not published today that I would submit a series of FOIs that I had drafted last week to the department. So the Ministers are aware of that and they're official so I just finish on this. I think this is important, we'll be clear what we're doing, we're referring this to the Joint Office Committee and I think that is important but I think it's a pity it's taken so long and it's particularly important and significant that it's happening today.