Yesterday, I raised with the Taoiseach serious issues of public interest in respect of the integrity of the planning process and the responsibility of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to uphold the integrity of that process. There are major allegations of planning irregularities in various parts of the State, which the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, is fully aware of but which he has not dealt with. For example, the Minister has been made aware of allegations relating to County Wicklow. These include allegations that An Bord Pleanála upheld objections to a major planning proposal in the county despite the fact that all objections to the development had been withdrawn. The person who authorised this inexplicable-----

Sorry, Deputy; we cannot make allegations here. Matters of fact are a different thing. This is not a court of law. We must be careful. Please do not mention names or locations that could identify issues.

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for that advice. They include allegations that An Bord Pleanála upheld objections to a major planning proposal in the county, a matter of fact, despite all objections to the development having been withdrawn, a matter of fact. The person who authorised this inexplicable decision was appointed deputy chairperson of An Bord Pleanála by the Minister, Deputy Hogan, despite obvious and serious conflict of interest issues.

Sorry, Deputy. You cannot make allegations of this type in the House.

It is a matter of fact.

You are making an allegation. You are connecting the appointment of someone to an important position with an allegation of wrongdoing, and we cannot do that in the Chamber. Standing Orders do not allow it.

This is a matter of fact.

It is not a matter of fact if it is an allegation.

The allegation is that there might be a conflict of interest. It is a matter of fact that this person was appointed by the Minister, Deputy Hogan, and that he cleared these decisions. Those are matters of fact.

Yes, but you are implying that there is something improper happening through the appointment of someone to an important position and that the person is involved in some wrongdoing. We cannot have that in this Chamber.

It is my responsibility to raise issues of concern.

Of course it is your responsibility and there are various ways of doing that, but not in the public domain on an issue of such seriousness.

I will bear your advice in mind, a Cheann Comhairle, as I put my question to the Taoiseach. Did officials in the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government question the appointment of the deputy chairperson in the light of the possibility of a conflict of interest due to his former position with RPS, a private consultancy firm?

Yesterday, the Taoiseach made reference to positions on State boards having to be publicly advertised. Could the Taoiseach clarify this for the Dáil? Is the Taoiseach not aware that the position of deputy chairperson of An Bord Pleanála was not advertised? That begs a response from the Taoiseach. Does the Taoiseach agree that a situation whereby the deputy chairperson of An Bord Pleanála is overseeing planning applications drawn up by his former employees may represent a conflict of interest?

Yesterday I asked the Taoiseach to facilitate the scrutiny by the Dáil of proposed nominees for the post of European Commissioner. The Taoiseach refused to answer the question. It is a perfectly reasonable request. As the Taoiseach famously said, Paddy needs to know. Paddy and Patricia need to know. I believe the Dáil has a responsibility to scrutinise any of these nominees and I call on the Taoiseach to facilitate such a process.

Deputy Adams has come to the House this morning and made specific allegations against someone who does a job for an important independent statutory element of our democracy, An Bord Pleanála. I do not think I have ever been in contact with An Bord Pleanála over the years other than to inquire when a decision might be made, and seldom at that. Deputy Adams is making an allegation against someone who has been appointed to an important position. He doubts whether that person is capable of doing his job objectively. He is insinuating in the Chamber this morning that this person is in some way conflicted by the work that he does. I do not think that is very good from Deputy Adams's point of view.

Anyone is entitled to lodge or withdraw an objection. I do not know the details of the case Deputy Adams has raised but I am assured that the Minister of State responsible, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is dealing with this specific matter. I imagine that if Deputy Adams wishes to put down a question to her, she will answer it for him.

It is a fact that when personnel are being appointed to membership of boards, people are entitled to apply or make expressions of interest through the publicjobs.ie website in respect of the experience they might bring to a particular position or otherwise. That does not confine a Minister to choosing from those who apply in that fashion. Ministers can choose membership of boards from outside specific applications that are made. This Government is the first to have introduced a requirement that the chairpersons of State bodies and boards of importance will appear before the relevant Oireachtas committees to explain and answer their questions in regard to the experience or expertise they might bring to any particular board.

I imagine if someone from the House were to be nominated for consideration to be appointed as a European Commissioner, that person would have no problem at all in going before the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs to discuss the matter. As I said to Deputy Adams yesterday, if someone from the House were to be nominated for the post of European Commissioner, there is a requirement that such a person would go before the full European Parliament for a three- or four-hour discussion and questioning process about their credentials for the job for which they have been nominated by a particular country. That applies in all cases.

I hope that the Deputy understands that the allegations he makes against an individual whom I do not know are very serious. Let me repeat for him again that the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is dealing with the particular case that the Deputy mentioned in Wicklow.

Of course I am aware that they are serious. That is why I raised them. However, they are not serious enough for the Taoiseach. I asked him to clarify whether he was aware of any possible conflict of interest or whether it had been raised with him, but he did not answer. I asked him to clarify his reference yesterday to positions on State boards needing to be publicly advertised, but he did not answer that. I asked him whether he knew that the position of deputy chairperson of An Bord Pleanála had not been advertised, but he did not answer.

The Mahon tribunal unveiled the reality of a decade of planning corruption. The Government has not implemented the recommendations of that tribunal. The Taoiseach cannot, as he does in the House, portray planning corruption as a Fianna Fáil problem when his Government does not act to root it out. I raise these issues not to cast aspersions on anyone, but because it is part of my public duty as a Teachta Dála to raise them in a considered, reasonable and logical way.

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government acted to close down scrutiny of the planning process when he was appointed. One of his first acts was to shut down the inquiry initiated by his predecessor, Mr. John Gormley.

Question, please.

Subsequently, an internal review was set up by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and presented as an alternative to that inquiry. It claimed that there had been no wrongdoing, but that finding had to be set aside when a senior planner, Mr. Gerard Convie, provided evidence to the High Court, which quashed the review's section on Donegal and apologised to Mr. Convie. The Taoiseach claims he is sure-----

I am sorry, but the Deputy is over time. Will he ask his supplementary question?

I will do it now. The Taoiseach claims he is sure that the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is dealing with this issue. She announced an independent assessment of these practices more than a year ago. I asked the Taoiseach yesterday whether we would have sight of that report before the recess. He stated that he would get back to me, but he did not. Will he tell the Dáil not that he is sure that she is dealing with the assessment, but when the report will be published and will we have sight of it?

I will revert to my original question.

Thank you. We are over time.

Will the Taoiseach facilitate a process in this Chamber or at a committee under which we can scrutinise the proposed nominees?

I am not aware of a conflict of interest. I hope that answers the Deputy's question - the answer is "No". All of the positions on An Bord Pleanála were publicly advertised. The answer to that is "Yes". That is clear.

This one was not.

The Government will legislate very shortly for NewERA, which is the entity charged with the Government's shareholding in semi-State companies and advising Ministers on appointments to boards of semi-States. In order to encourage public participation here and to have the best talent available, the process of public expressions of interest is available to the public, and many do apply. Obviously, the range of experience they offer is enormous. Ministers do not need to be confined to the applications that are received in that regard.

As I said, everybody who is appointed to a chair of a State board has to come before the Oireachtas committee and answer for his or her experience. As I said, if somebody from the House is nominated for consideration for appointment to the European Commission, I am quite sure he or she would have no difficulty in going before the European affairs committee.

An allegation was made to me yesterday about a major waste dump outside Derry, which apparently has generated an income of approximately £15 million. An allegation was made as to where that money went. I said: "I do not believe it." Maybe allegations that Deputy Adams makes here or that are made to me or to anybody else sometimes are very far removed from the facts and from the truth.