When will Fianna Fáil learn the lessons of the crash that its policies led to more than a decade ago? I am really struggling to understand what the Government is at. The big innovation from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when it comes to restoring public confidence in An Bord Pleanála is to revert to a discredited system of political appointments that was done away with almost 40 years ago. I do not think you could make this stuff up, that we are going back in time on this. I would not have thought Fianna Fáil needed reminding of why we need to remove any prospect of political interference from the planning system, or perhaps its members have forgotten about the tribunal reports.

If the Government's so-called reform of an Bord Pleanála goes ahead today, we will see the last remaining shred of its credibility and independence going up in flames. Most of the members of the board of An Bord Pleanála will be handpicked by the Minister, entirely at his discretion in a blatant and egregious political power grab. Meanwhile, as the Minister turns An Bord Pleanála into his political plaything, he is determined to remove the democratic oversight role the public plays in the planning process. Early in the new year the Minister will bring forward legislation that will make it as difficult and expensive as possible for members of the public to appeal planning decisions. The Government will stuff An Bord Pleanála with political appointments and then make it impossible for the legality of those decisions to be challenged in the courts.

There is no disguising how dangerous and deluded this is. We know from very recent history what happens when politicians say they will speed up the planning process. It grinds to a halt. Fine Gael, with the support of Fianna Fáil, introduced strategic housing development legislation in 2017, changing the entire purpose of An Bord Pleanála from a planning appeals body to a forum where first instance decisions were made. The only avenue of appeal then became the High Court. Then, Fine Gael Ministers had the audacity to complain that the number of judicial reviews went up. What did they think was going to happen?

Now, to solve a problem of their own creation, Fianna Fáil is ably assisting Fine Gael - this time in government - by taking a sledgehammer to An Bord Pleanála's last remaining vestiges of credibility. If the Green Party stands over this, it will be signing its own political death warrant. The awful thing is its members know this is wrong. At what point will Fianna Fáil and its Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage learn the lessons of history? While the Social Democrats are in favour of progressive reforms to our planning system, we need a planning process that is entirely independent of political interference, and which is open to scrutiny and legitimate challenge by the public. It is not too late to pull these deeply misguided and damaging plans that will destroy what remains of the credibility of An Bord Pleanála. I only have one question for the Minister. Will he do that?

Deputy Murphy has touched on a number of important issues in the whole area of planning. It is the case the Government yesterday approved the draft of the new planning Bill. The proposed Bill will be published and will go into the normal legislative process. There will be pre-legislative scrutiny by the relevant Oireachtas committee. We look forward to seeing the outcome of that over the months ahead.

I will make a broader point. We have a choice to make in the country. Do we want to have a planning system that is Aarhus Convention compliant, is compliant with EU law, and facilitates the development we need to have in the State, which is the building of more homes for our people, investment in renewable energy technology throughout the country, and the delivery of public infrastructure, which the Deputy and others rightly call on the Government to deliver consistently? Do we want instead to have a planning system where it is simply too easy for planning decisions to get tied up in knots and to join a never-ending queue of judicial reviews, which may ultimately over a number of years be determined?

The root-and-branch review that has been led by the Attorney General and a whole team of national experts in this field is, in my view, a very balanced review. It has recommended a series of measures. The Deputy has focused on one particular strand of it. It is important to say that at the centre of this is putting plan-making at the heart of our planning system, bringing increased clarity and streamlining to the legislation, and improving the functioning of the planning system. For example, it involves the introduction of a range of statutory and mandatory timelines across the various consenting processes. An Bord Pleanála, which will be called an coimisiún pleanála, will undergo an organisational restructure. It will be subject to the statutory timelines, which will be introduced on a phased basis. The duration of local plans will also be extended from six years to ten years to have proper medium to long-term planning for how our country develops. We will have proper alignment of strategic planning at national, regional and local level over longer cycles.

Judicial reviews will continue to be taken. We are seeking to ensure timelines are included in respect of the various steps in the judicial review process, including for pleadings, hearings of cases, and delivery of judgments by the court. It also brings clarity as to who can bring a judicial review. In the future, a case can be taken by an individual or by an environmental non-governmental organisation. Groups such as residents' associations will still be to take a judicial review but will do so as a group of named individuals rather than in the name of a group or association. This is to ensure there is proper legal capacity for the taking of a judicial review before the courts in respect of planning decisions. We are also introducing very important cost protections as part of the reforms for those taking judicial reviews. We are underpinning the right to take a judicial review, providing clarity as to who can take it, providing cost protection for those who take it, and ensuring there is certainty in relation to timelines for outcomes to the planning process ultimately.

The strategic housing development legislation actually slowed things down in that it resulted in people taking judicial reviews. Things can be done that are counterproductive, and I will point that one out.

Just this week, the Committee of Public Accounts received a reply from the Minister's Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that told us the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments has not yet fully concluded but has come to a total of €143 million to date. We cannot go backwards in the context of political appointments. The independence of An Bord Pleanála absolutely must be sacrosanct. The idea the Minister can decide who to pick as members of An Bord Pleanála is political interference. It will not restore the credibility of An Bord Pleanála. It will do the reverse. When it comes to planning, I put it to the Minister that the public have a memory of Fianna Fáil and planning. What is happening today with this decision is retrograde, and particularly around political appointments. It is not acceptable.

The Deputy referred to strategic housing developments, SHDs, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has abolished the SHD process. Yesterday I brought forward a report on ethics in public office, which will lead to a new Bill that will be brought to the Oireachtas to consolidate the ethics in public office regime. This regime dates back to 1995 and was updated in 2001 by the Standards in Public Office Act. We have work to do to make sure we implement the recommendations that have been made by various tribunals of inquiry, the Group of States Against Corruption, GRECO, and the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, in its annual reports. It will be a matter for this Government and the Oireachtas to work on that. The Bill we approved yesterday will undergo full pre-legislative scrutiny. It is important to give that assurance, and I know the joint committee will do its work competently and professionally.

On the issue of appointments to An Bord Pleanála, it is important that, in the short term, while the Minister, Deputy O'Brien's programme of reform of An Bord Pleanála is implemented, the board can continue to function, that we have a board that can administer planning and make decisions. The Minister has to take this step to make sure the board can continue to function. As the Deputy well knows, he is also setting out a new process on the nomination of members of An Bord Pleanála, which will involve the input of various stakeholders. It will be a public and open competition and it will be transparent and accountable. In the short term he has to make sure that the board can function and deliver its statutory functions to us as a country.