Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 29 Mar 2012

Vol. 761 No. 2

Mahon Tribunal Report: Statements (Resumed)

Deputy Clare Daly

Over the course of the debate there has been considerable looking back at the past with the implication that was then and this is now. However, this phenomenally costly exercise has not done anything other than spell out what we already knew and have known for decades. In one sense that is probably all right, but the real test before the House is what we will do about it now. Will concrete measures be introduced to begin a new era? I do not see any indication that is the case. The examples highlighted by the tribunal were not isolated occurrences. They were probably worst excesses of a system which is intrinsically bound up and influenced by big business as we see in a number of areas. The seamless transition that Ministers of all of the main parties have when they leave this House and take up positions on the boards of multinational companies and so on shows that relationship.

The roots of the present crisis, borne on the shoulders of young couples and families, lie in the findings of the Mahon report and the carry on that was the norm in the past. A few people resigning from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is hardly justice for those crimes, which is what they were in many instances. Obviously there are more Fianna Fáil members named than Fine Gael members, but that probably reflects the fact that Fine Gael was out of power more than Fianna Fáil was and probably had less opportunity to be influenced. The dogs on the street knew that councillors from the right wing parties facilitated this process. They very keenly participated in a system that by a show of councillors' hands turned people into millionaires overnight because of a zoning change on land they owned. It is illustrative of the links between big business funding and political parties.

Even the Labour Party was not immune. I note that the tribunal exonerates and commends the behaviour of the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte. However, even in his case he received cash in his house in November and gave the money back 36 days later. One would have to ask why he was keeping it and why did he accept the cash in the first place. Of course the Labour Party went on to accept many donations from big business and it illustrates that it was seen to be the norm. Such behaviour was seen to be acceptable. Despite what Deputies have said about it here, the dogs on the street knew it was going on. The Christmas after I was first elected to Fingal County Council, I saw one of the members of staff carry in boxes laden down with presents, gifts, drink and so on. I happened to ask who it was for and he informed me it was for certain councillors. He suggested that if I wanted to know who had given it, I could see for myself because I had received a calendar from the same person. Clearly, the people who voted the right way were being rewarded. I suggest they came rather cheap at the price. I recall the election count in Fingal in 2002. Every developer there, including the likes of Gerry Gannon, raised G.V. Wright and other Fianna Fáil Deputies shoulder-high following their election. Mr. Wright had to resign his seat from Fianna Fáil recently. One need only drive around and look at the ownership of sites where billboards appeared during the elections to know where the influence lay.

These people were buying the failure of the State to implement the Kenny report and control the price of building land. The question for the Government is whether it will do something to deal with that situation now. The failure to do so has put a phenomenal burden on the shoulders of ordinary people. The Government could take concrete steps to implement the Kenny report. Decisions on lands for development purposes should be based not on ownership, but on strategic necessity and it should be linked to the control the price of housing. This is absolutely necessary if there is to be any change. This important measure could be taken now.

I do not believe that removing the power from councillors is a solution. I believe there should be more local democracy whereby the population has the right to recall councillors who do not perform their duties or who betray the electorate. Such measures should be extended into the planning process per se. It is not only councillors who have been tainted. I do not for one moment believe that George Redmond was the only corrupt planning council employee. There must be greater measures to ensure transparency on planning decisions and this must involve An Bord Pleanála as well. Ultimately, this is not about individuals or their behaviour, although some of them behaved especially badly. The real challenge is for society. What was the role of the media and the Garda? These questions have not featured enough in the debate. The behaviour and conduct that occurred could not have taken place without the complicity of the media and the Garda.

I pay tribute to Joe MacAnthony, one of the first people who exposed corruption in the State. He broke the first story about Ray Burke in the 1970s, a role recognised 30 years later during the Flood tribunal. However, some 40 years later, almost nothing has been done to deal with this criminal activity. We must ask ourselves why nothing has been done. Clearly, it is because of the private ownership and the influence of the media. When the Sunday Independent was bought by the Fianna Fáil contributor, Tony O’Reilly, the accurate and well-supported stories published by Joe MacAnthony ceased. In essence, he was axed and elbowed out. He was exiled to Canada for revealing the close relationship between the property developers Mr. Brennan and Mr. McGowan and the then Deputy Ray Burke. The journalist produced legal evidence from the Companies Registration Office which showed criminal, corrupt behaviour from Ray Burke. He brought this to the attention of the state forces, the Garda, but no action was taken because Ray Burke was a Minister at the time. Nothing was done about that behaviour. Meanwhile, the man who revealed the story and who carried out the research had his wages cut. He was effectively squeezed out of Independent Newspapers. He had been lined up for a job in RTE, the State broadcaster, but was axed from that contract as well.

What happened to Ray Burke afterwards? He went on to steal further. When he was Minister for Communications, he accepted £30,000 from the Fitzwilton group, owned by Tony O'Reilly, also the owner of the Sunday Independent. That newspaper has continued to play a despicable role in the coverage and history of the State. In essence, there is a golden circle in the country facilitated by many of the stalwarts of the Irish media. The failure to deal with Mr. Burke in the 1970s gave a licence to everyone else to carry on. This failure gave the nod and indicated that this was acceptable behaviour. It confirmed that there was one law for the rich and another for the poor. This type of stance continues to the present day. These double standards remain extant. It has been proven that Anglo Irish Bank broke liquidity laws. That is indisputable. Those involved took part in criminal activity which is liable for a penalty of five years in prison. However, not one of those people have been brought before the courts.

Rather than taking action to deal with criminal activity in the banking sector, the Government and the taxpayer have been asked to support it and to reward those involved by paying off their debts. Those whose shoulders the debt is foisted on, ordinary citizens, PAYE taxpayers and pensioners, are threatened with the courts for refusing to pay an unjust household tax demanded to pay precisely the debts that are a result of criminal behaviour. This is the type of corruption that goes on in this society and if the Government was serious about it, it would deal with it.

The tribunal report also expresses its findings with regard to corporate vehicles and transparency of assets. I have raised this issue on several occasions with the Minister in respect of the role of charitable trusts operating out of the International Financial Services Centre. Essentially, they carry on their business in a tax haven. They are established to defeat transparency. They are set up to facilitate off-balance-sheet operations and shadow share dealings or bond deals. I pose the following question for the Government: how can these trust regulations be allowed to stand? If the Government fails to take action to deal with these trusts, it would be altogether incompatible with the findings of the tribunal. The Minister for Finance must give a public commitment that he will end what Transparency International Ireland refers to as legal corruption of these trusts. Will the Government wait until it becomes the subject of an investigation by the IRS or the UK fraud squad? These are not historical but current issues. The taxpayer has paid hundreds of millions of euro to fund a tribunal into corrupt practices. If the Government is serious, it must make far-reaching decisions with regard to how it conducts itself in terms of business and planning matters throughout the State.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (Deputy Alan Kelly)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this important, seismic issue, an issue most disturbing for Irish politics. With its thousands of pages, the Mahon tribunal report opened a unique window into what was an especially dark and murky period in Irish political history. The word "corrupt" or related words are referred to over 800 times. It was a period of brown envelopes, digouts, whiparounds and when money came before the common good, when there was something rotten in the State of Ireland, to paraphrase Shakespeare. The report's conclusions are stomach-churning. I believe I can still get away with saying that as a younger politician I hope never to see this happen again and I will work night and day to restore faith in Irish politics.

We are all aware of the tribunal's findings and there is no need to repeat the facts outlined. We must move on and create a better, more transparent way of conducting politics. However, it is important to put on record the damage that the corruption culture did to the country, how it started, how it was fostered and how it penetrated every level of Ireland and the Government.

The corruption can be traced back to TACA, the fund-raising arm of Fianna Fáil, as part of which men in mohair suits travelled from dance halls to GAA socials throughout the country with begging bowls in one hand and giving slaps on the back with the other. Things got done as part of a nod-and-wink culture. One was served not according to one's need, but depending on the size of one's pocket and wallet. If one sought access to the relevant Minister, one had to cough up and be a part of the TACA club. It became the culture which underpinned the political movement of Fianna Fáil, the so-called movement for the everyman and woman. In this murky culture, which was never tackled, the honest man or woman was not rewarded. If one wished to get ahead in business, one had to look after Fianna Fáil.

One person came to pioneer this deceitful, dishonest and destructive culture more than most. This was Mr. Charles J. Haughey, the first of three recent Fianna Fáil leaders to be implicated in tribunals. His attitude to money, Charvet shirts and champagne on Inisvickillane spread around Fianna Fáil like a virus. Although disgusting, this disgrace spread throughout the Government through him. It occurred at local and national level and it infested the culture of Fianna Fáil. It infected Government at every level according to Judge Mahon.

Following Mr. Haughey we had Mr. Reynolds, who the tribunal found to have abused his political power and who sought donations for political support. There is no evidence that he had any interest in tackling the cronyism culture and corruption that polluted Fianna Fáil and subsequently polluted the country.

Then we have Bertie, a former Minister for Finance and an accountant, who cannot account for his money. Some of it he won on a horse and some of it was kept in a safe in his office when he was supposedly broke. He is the man whose solicitor travelled around Dublin to seek money for him, apparently to pay his legal fees. Bertie is the man who wanted to renovate a house he did not own and the man who, above all, let his secretary take the hit for him in public. Not even his political and financial cunning could get him out of this one. There is no doubt but that his farcical explanations were exposed by the tribunal.

Politics is supposed to be about values, but in Fianna Fáil it seemed to be about lining your own pockets. It is beyond credibility to think that over ten years of Fianna Fáil Government Bertie Ahern's his Cabinet colleagues could listen to this fairytale coming from the tribunal and buy it. How can former Fianna Fáil Ministers who are still Members of this House credibly explain their silence on these matters over the past years? The report is damning of a number of them and their attacks on the tribunal and it is not good enough that they only now say they regret them. Being contrite after the fact is a joke considering the attitude they displayed during the tribunal.

There was also Pádraig Flynn. How could we forget him? Some €50,000 meant for his party disappeared and reappeared in a personal family transaction according to the tribunal. This was a man who had one of the great privileges of Irish politics, to represent this country as a Commissioner in Europe, a great honour. Did he conduct himself with honour? Not in the slightest. Does he deserve his European pension? Not in the slightest way.

Charlie Haughey, Liam Lawlor, Albert Reynolds, Frank Dunlop and a whole host of others, all Fianna Fáil members, were all implicated in tribunals that involved large sums of money changing hands. Corruption seemed to become a regular aspect of Fianna Fáil's public role, but who suffered? We all did. Everyone suffered, whether as a result of poor planning or of rewarding cute hoors above honest talent. Fianna Fáil polluted the country for many generations and ignored the honest decent people who were trying to make lives for themselves in difficult economic circumstances. Some people suffered more than others. As I stated on "The Frontline" programme on Monday, there are people in west Dublin living in houses that should never have been built. Fianna Fáil wanted to reward its developer friends and moved the town centre to Quarryvale, where we now have a huge shopping centre but awful planning. I know that in planning schools in eastern Europe, Dublin is used as an example of what not to do.

On behalf of the new generations of politicians in this House, I say that we can never let this happen again. Never again should it happen and we stand indicted as a political generation if anything like this ever does. Politicians and political parties need to put the country, the Republic before themselves or their parties. With Fianna Fáil, the party always came first. The only values Fianna Fáil held dear was electability and power. No more. We need to kill the murky political culture of Fianna Fáil, and I am determined we will.

Remember, there is a direct link between the Fianna Fáil cronyism culture and our current crisis. Seánie Fitzpatrick had no problems getting access to senior Fianna Fáil Ministers as and when he needed. There was a reason Fianna Fáil supported the property class so much. Many of its pioneers were strongly linked to Fianna Fáil and it was these people, along with Fianna Fáil, who destroyed this country. They have no right to lecture any other party politically anymore, least of all the Labour Party, of which I am proud to be a member, whose senior politicians were commended by the tribunal. My colleague Joan Burton has 42 writs to show where the Labour Party stood on corrupt planning. Listening to Fianna Fáil's Deputy Collins the other night, one would swear Fianna Fáil had done a Superman act in a telephone box and come out squeaky clean like someone in a Daz ad. Has he forgotten the Ansbacher accounts? Has has he already forgotten the MaCracken and Moriarty tribunal reports? The stench of corruption around Fianna Fáil will last for generations. The tactics of Deputy Collins and his Fianna Fáil colleagues are to try and slip into a commentary that suggests they were all the same and were all at it. They seem to suggest "Yes, we were bold, but we are Fianna Fáil and we will be back". Well, we are not all the same. This republic does not need that Fianna Fáil. It has done enough damage. The Government is trying to bring back our republic and our sovereignty, which was sold out by Fianna Fáil.

The Mahon tribunal report recommendations need to be taken very seriously. This is a once-off chance. We need to create a change in political culture. We have a job to do as a political generation, across all parties and across all levels of politics from the parish to the councils to the Oireachtas. We must use this report as an opportunity not just to end political corruption in Irish life but also to end the public apathy we have as a nation towards corruption. The wider public repeatedly voted Fianna Fáil back into power throughout 22 of the last 25 years and we know the result.

Planning and procurement systems have changed dramatically and will continue to change so that they can be free of private or political interest and operate from now on in the interests of the common good and be evidence based rather than developer led. The nature of party donations will be completely different. We we will have a register of lobbyists that will also determine the regulations around political donations. We will have whistleblowers legislation to encourage people to speak out. We also will update ethics and corruption legislation to prevent the revolving door syndrome where former politicians or senior public servants move from their jobs into private sector jobs in an area closely related to their previous jobs. There needs to be a cooling off period of a number of years for people in such positions. Furthermore, those who are found to have tried to bribe politicians or public servants must be dealt with severely. They should no longer be allowed tender for public contracts, for instance, or apply for a job in the public sector. Those who have ever received a bribe should never hold political office now or in the future. They should also forfeit their pensions. This will be difficult to bring about, but we should do everything in our power to try and achieve it. The public demands this and I am with the public. Above all, we in this House need to undo Fianna Fáil's legacy. It will take a long time but we can do it.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I welcome the publication of the Mahon tribunal report into planning corruption. Its publication was a sad day for politics here and for my party. It was sad for our party to see some of our former members indicted as having been corrupt by the tribunal and it was sad that the tribunal did not believe our former party leader gave a truthful account of moneys to the tribunal.

Both the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals have been ongoing since the late 1990s and during that period they have case a shadow over Irish politics and the business of politics in this country. While we were getting on with business, two tribunals were discussing and investigating practices in Irish politics in the past of which none of us could have been proud. Until such time as those tribunals reported, they cast a shadow over political life here. In many ways, it is a relief to see that both tribunals have now reported. It was a relief when the Mahon tribunal report was issued last week because it brought into the open its adjudications, judgments and decisions on the evidence given over a number of years.

With regard to Fianna Fáil, I and many members feel a sense of betrayal with regard to members of the party - former Ministers, Deputies and councillors - who were found to have taken corrupt payments and to have acted corruptly. This was a betrayal of the party, of politics of our country and of the people who elected them. There is no pride for me in seeing that people who operated within the same party I do undertook and committed such acts. However, Fianna Fáil has acted as strongly as it possibly can in response to the judgments. We moved to expel those who were found to have acted corruptly or against whom serious findings were made by the tribunal. We want to make it clear that there is no place within our party for people who betray the public trust and who do not act in the interest of the public who elected them or in the spirit of the membership of the party who supported and helped them get elected.

I have listened to the comments of Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, and of many other Ministers and Deputies during this debate this week. They refer to Fianna Fáil as if it had been the subject of the findings of the tribunal and as if it found Fianna Fáil to be corrupt. I wish to make it clear that Fianna Fáil is not a corrupt party and neither is its membership. Some members of the party who held very high office within the party have been found against by the tribunal and this fact is a betrayal of the membership of our party and for what our party stands for-----

Deputy Alan Kelly

The country was betrayed.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I agree. I wish to assure the House that the membership comprises of good and honest people and they are members of the party for the right reasons. They have spent many years knocking on doors, working in the community, organising national collections for the party outside church gates and in that case, they have accounted for every penny. It is an absolute betrayal of those members when it is found that some of our key party representatives acted in such a manner as has been found in this tribunal and in other fora. I can assure the House there is no cloud over my name nor any cloud over the people who support me nor over the membership of the party. However, we have been betrayed by the actions of some of these people and I assure the House there will be no truck with such people in the future. The party will continue with the good spirit and commitment of those of whom we can be proud. However, we have been betrayed and we are not proud of what has happened. We have a job to win back the trust of the public but I am confident that with the spirit of the membership of the party we can do this and we have to make that effort.

I remind the House that Fianna Fáil has introduced a Bill dealing with political donations and a Bill dealing with the registration of lobbyists and it also made a contribution to much of the ethics legislation introduced in recent years by the previous two Governments in order to regulate political donations. There is an onus on all parties and on all those involved in politics to act on the findings of the tribunal to ensure that this type of activity can never happen again.

Other Members have referred to the Fianna Fáil Party as if every member of the party is the same. The Mahon tribunal also found against members of other political parties, certain Fine Gael members and one Labour Party member and Independents-----

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

He was kicked out of the party in 1993.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

Rightly so. My point is that the findings were not exclusively against the members of one party and we must all ensure that this can never happen again. This will require the Government parties to step up to the mark to ensure that they take responsibility on their side. The Moriarty tribunal found that a Minister who sat at the Cabinet table with many of the members of the current Government delivered a mobile telephone licence to a particular company. This was one of the most significant decisions made by the State in recent years. Fianna Fáil had nothing to do with it.

We must ensure that politics from now on will be above reproach. I note the Minister, Deputy Hogan has suppressed and reversed the decision to have an independent investigation into planning decisions in certain local authorities, a retrograde step.

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

It has started.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I note that the former Minister who initiated those inquiries has criticised the Government.

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

They are not suppressed, they are ongoing.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

They are ongoing now but the Government has been in office for a year. I ask how much longer they will continue. The Mahon tribunal cost €300 million and we being informed it will be one or two months before the Minister will issue a statement. If the Government was serious about it, the independent investigations should have been continued when the Government came into office-----

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

They have started.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

Independent investigations had been done previously and they should have been continued by the Government. I note the lethargic attitude of the Government as to the continuation of this work and it gives out the wrong message as a response to the Mahon tribunal findings. The Government should initiate those independent investigations. I acknowledge it is unfortunate the House has to spend so much time debating a report which has such damaging findings but I hope it will be last time we have to do this. All parties must ensure that they operate in a way so that politics will be regarded differently in the future.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan)

I will address the issues raised by Deputy McConalogue at the conclusion of my contribution. I assure the House that those investigations are ongoing.

It is important and good that the House is finally debating the final report of the Mahon planning tribunal. This is a significant debate which will be the historical point of departure in responding to the analysis, findings and recommendations of the Mahon tribunal report. I want to make it clear that this report will be the basis for action. We will ensure that the climate which existed will never be tolerated again whereby corrupt manipulation of the political and planning systems occurred in this country. As Minister of State with responsibility for planning matters I wish to reassure the House that I regard the report as a historic opportunity for both myself and for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, to mark a point of departure between what has gone before and what is to come.

I will repeat the core element of my initial public response statement to the Mahon tribunal report :

The evidence given during the hearings and the conclusions of the report have rightly apportioned blame to those who received corrupt payments, frustrated the work of the Tribunal and undermined our planning process. Planning corruption is not a faceless crime, it affects the welfare of families and communities for decades. I am determined to act on its conclusions to ensure that our planning system is designed and operated in the interests of the country and the community [and not of developers].

The Minister and I are keenly aware of the strong relationship between the need to have an effective planning system and to overcome our economic challenges and prepare for our country's economic recovery. I also wish to underscore the strong synergy between the planning recommendations of the Mahon tribunal report and recent and ongoing reforms to the legislative underpinning and operation of planning in this country.

There was consolidation of planning legislation in 2000 and the publication of the national spatial strategy in 2002, followed by the introduction of regional planning guidelines in 2004 which were substantially revised in 2010. Although more progress is needed extensive efforts have been made to ensure a more strategic approach to planning, one where the debate is less about whose field is to be zoned and more about how places are being used in the longer term. That progress must continue.

The 2006 Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act established statutory recognition of the national spatial strategy and the 2010 Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 provided further amplification. In this regard, the 2010 Act has strengthened regional co-ordination, delivered better alignment of planning nationally, regionally and locally, and introduced a new requirement for core strategies in the development plan process. This process is one that local authorities are strongly engaging with because they recognise the need for a stronger, plan-led, strategic, phased approach to development that will facilitate careful management of, and prudent investment in, infrastructure provision at a time of acute pressure on the public finances.

By taking account of both the tribunal's findings and recent experiences better planning will be achieved. First, where there is an evidence-based approach and future needs, whether for housing, office space, retailing or infrastructure, are agreed strategically and matched by strategic planning at Government level through the appropriate national strategies and sectoral investment plans. Second, when we refocus on revitalising our city and town centres and move against the tendency of the Celtic tiger era to envisage extensive and sprawling extensions of our cities and towns that draw the lifeblood out of older, established central urban areas. Third, where local authorities use the core strategy approach to tackle the legacy of historical and systemic over-zoning and ensure that all zoning is based on a quantifiable need that is community based rather than developer-led. Fourth, when we move instead towards a more co-ordinated and joined up approach to the delivery of essential public services such as schools, public transport and water services, using the local plan as the template.

I wish to take this opportunity to outline some initiatives I have been involved in during the short period since I took office, which are pointers for the way forward. I expect shortly to receive the regional planning guidelines implementation annual report 2011 which has been prepared by the eight regional authorities, having particular regard to the core strategy provisions of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 and ensuring proper oversight of the alignment of plans at national, regional and local level. I believe the report of the regional authorities will indicate that serious progress is being made and must continue to be made in tackling our addiction to zoning.

The 2010 Act was aimed at decreasing the need for ministerial intervention in development plans and local area plans by bringing clarity to the legal responsibilities of planning authorities to have reasonable and evidence based plans rather than rely on the Minister's intervention in the plan process. I wish to make it clear that this does not automatically rule out the need for my future intervention, in particular in the context of ensuring local plans and development plans are consistent. I will closely monitor their consistency with the now adopted core strategies in development plans.

I will shortly launch an innovative planning information system that for the first time in this country will draw together all the zoning maps of every development plan and local area plan in the country. These will be published on the Internet and will be accessible to the public. The system will enable a much more open and transparent system for tracking the integration of plans across the country. It will be a game-changer in terms of how the public will view the operation of the forward planning system. I will announce this very shortly. It is important to recall - as the tribunal did - that there are fundamental differences between the current planning regime and that prevailing at the time the planning tribunal started its work 15 years ago. I agree with the tribunal that while recent progress is welcome, we can and must go further.

I turn now to look more closely at the ten planning recommendations of the Mahon tribunal report. Recommendation No. 2, on regional authorities, will be considered in the context of the forthcoming policy proposals of the Minister, Deputy Hogan, concerning further local government reform, to include the regional dimension. Recommendation No. 3 and, to an extent, No. 8, on regional and local authority procedures, have already been acted upon in recent legislative amendments. Recommendation No. 4 is a matter for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Other recommendations propose sensible improvements to improve accountability, transparency and fairness in the planning process. I believe we would all largely agree on these but we must study them closely and consider them carefully as we prepare to respond to them in greater detail. I have already met officials and will meet them again next week in order to progress these recommendations, in particular in the planning department within the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Without question, however, the most fundamental recommendation is for the establishment of an independent planning regulator. In this one recommendation, the Mahon tribunal essentially tells legislators such as us that notwithstanding the roles of local authorities and the Minister, and progress made in recent years in tightening up a previously lax system, planning, especially the forward planning process, needs independent oversight. This must have the appropriate legal mandate and resources to determine whether plans are in compliance with legal requirements and, if they are not, to determine what intervention may be necessary where serious policy departures have taken place, or where there is strong evidence of bad practice or systemic failure. In other words, the tribunal's assessment is that Ireland needs to introduce an element of independent review of forward planning and planning administration practice in the manner that An Bord Pleanála undoubtedly delivers in overseeing our independent planning application appeals system. I intend to look at that recommendation and consult on it. My main focus in all this is to improve accountability and transparency.

In the short term, Members will also be mindful of the legacy of planning complaints, referred to by the previous speaker. Concerning these the former Minister, John Gormley, had announced a planning review that was intended to assess the application of planning legislation, policy and guidance within the development plan and development management systems at local level, and to inform further policy development in these areas. A number of planning authorities, representing a broad geographical spread of urban and rural areas and large and small authorities, have been selected to assist in the review of policies and practices by reference to a number of cases raised with my Department. I assure Deputies that work on this is ongoing and I have urged my officials to complete it as urgently as possible. Once it is completed I will issue a public statement, including any appropriate actions to be pursued in regard to further policy development and guidance while also taking account of the need to develop wider proposals for improving the transparency and openness of the planning system as recommended in the report of the Mahon tribunal report.

I wish to make it clear that the former Minister, Mr. Gormley, did not establish any investigations. He set up a panel of consultants who were to be available to carry out investigations. He left office in January 2011 without establishing any such investigation process. He was succeeded as Minister by Deputy Ó Cuív until the fall of the last Government but he, too, did not initiate any investigations. My predecessor, in conjunction with the Minister, Deputy Hogan, asked for a review within the Department which is ongoing and the findings of which I will publish when they are available. If necessary, and if appropriate on the basis of what is in that information, I will instigate investigations. The Deputies have my assurance on that because I intend, as Minister of State with responsibility for planning, to ensure we have a fair, open and transparent system of planning in this country, one in which people can be confident and on which they can depend, that will deliver the sustainable communities and quality of life for which we all strive and which people deserve.

I thank the members of the tribunal for their work over the years. I see this as a historic debate that I hope will close a very ugly, distasteful and damaging chapter in the history of this country. I look forward to playing my part in ensuring we have an open and transparent system in the future, without corruption.

Deputy Sandra McLellan

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on the final report of the Mahon tribunal. It is a shame it took 15 years for the tribunal to complete its work and that the costs associated with its work were so large. However, taking into consideration the findings that have been revealed regarding the core corruption within Irish politics, it may yet be a small price to pay. The conclusion of the Mahon report is that corruption was systemic and pervaded public life. The tribunal's conclusions and its criticism of the political elite in this state are damning. The report revealed what many people had been all too aware off, that the culture of corruption has blighted the political life of this state for decades and has caused widespread social damage.

Corruption in Irish political life was both endemic and systemic. It affected every level of Government, from certain holders of top ministerial office to certain local councillors. Its existence was widely known and widely tolerated. The findings of the report show that some people in elected office did not tell the truth. For me, this is the most disheartening result of the Mahon tribunal.

I was elected to my constituency in good faith to represent the people of Cork East. These people trust me to represent them. The findings of this report that politicians put their pockets before the people will further deepen the public's perception of politicians, which is damning for Irish politics.

It also reveals a culture of corruption within our political institutions. This culture began with the development of relations between greedy developers and politicians corrupting planning for profit. At the heart of this corruption lies what was once the most powerful political institution in Ireland, Fianna Fáil. The tribunal referred to how the Fianna Fáil Ministers launched what was described as "extraordinary and unprecedented attacks on the Tribunal" to erode its independence and collapse it. Questions must be asked of these former Ministers. Why were they so quick to attack the tribunal? Was this due to the fact that they did not want the truth to get out?

The tribunal found that former Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had been untruthful, that former EU Commissioner and Fianna Fáil Minister Pádraig Flynn was corrupt, that former Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Albert Reynolds turned a blind eye to it all, and that former Fianna Fáil member Liam Lawlor abused his role as a public representative. This statement, that the Head of State and the person who represented our country throughout the world was found by the tribunal to be unable to tell the truth, is horrific.

Deputy McConalogue referred to some people in Fianna Fáil being honest and he is correct. However, many Ministers around the Cabinet table turned a blind eye to what was going on and that is a very poor reflection on the Fianna Fáil Party. We attempt to teach our children from an early age that lying, even a small white lie, is unacceptable yet the final report of the Mahon tribunal is telling the entire world our former Head of State cannot tell the truth. How do we intend to teach our children right from wrong when our former Taoiseach, who held the highest office in the land, is unable to tell the truth? The evidence our former Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, gave to the tribunal was seen to be inadequate. It was clear from the outset that he was unable to give an honest account of the substantial amounts of money he received. His explanations were laughable and, during the period he was Minister for Finance, he did not have a bank account. The widespread opinion at the time was that his evidence was not believable, something the tribunal has now confirmed to be true. The final report makes references to corrupt developers who were knowingly making authorised payments to politicians for their backing for the rezoning of land and these payments were willingly embraced by all sectors of the political institutions in Ireland, from council to Government level. Greedy developers sought to corrupt greedy politicians. These greedy politicians were mainly from, but not limited to, Fianna Fáil and sought to extort brown paper envelopes from developers. The result was poor planning and devastated communities.

The evidence of this corrupt system is to be seen throughout the country. Land was rezoned from agricultural to residential use, regardless of whether sufficient housing existed. Housing estates popped up in the middle of nowhere, with no amenities to support the residents. Some local authorities also appear to have flouted their own development plans in granting certain permissions. The consequences are visible and the taxpayer, via NAMA, is now the reluctant owner of many of these empty houses and ghost estates. The Mahon report lays bare how our democracy was subverted by an unhealthy and corrupt relationship between politics and business. This rotten political culture has contributed directly to the economic catastrophe visited on this State, with all its horrendous consequences such as mass unemployment, mass emigration and the devastation of our public services through austerity and cuts. There are the many homeowners in mortgage distress because some politicians chose to facilitate developers and bankers and pursued an economic strategy that brought the State to its knees. There are growing numbers of elderly citizens who do not know if they will have a public nursing bed when and if they need it.

Within our education system, we have had Traveller support teachers removed, teachers of English as an acquired language removed, SNAs removed and home school liaison officers removed. We have had an attack on the DEIS schools and small schools are under pressure, which causes major problems in rural areas, especially in the Gaeltacht. Some students are now unable to attend university due to the increase in the registration fee paid by third-level students, a figure that is likely to continue to increase. These austerity measures are being placed upon families who are already struggling to make ends meet.

The Mahon report confirmed widespread suspicions that bribery was a tried and tested way for developers to get the decisions they wanted. Councillors do not have a great deal of power under the Irish local government system but one they do hold is the ability to rezone land. What a lucrative income stream that proved, for some, during the boom.

That corruption did not begin with the events of the individuals dealt with in the report. It dates back to the 1960s and involves several leading members of the Fianna Fáil Party. That created a culture of corruption in which many of those who rose to prominence regarded their elected positions and positions held in government as a licence to earn large amounts of money by selling their influence and votes. The Fianna Fáil Party should take a good hard look at themselves and examine what happened. Many Fianna Fáil elected representatives involved, although not corrupt, were complacent. We also saw the defiant and defensive attitude from many in the leadership of Fianna Fáil during the Mahon tribunal. It is without question that these elected representatives should have acted differently and more appropriately, both within their party at the time and to the public. Many of the people who were so defiant and defensive of the then leader Bertie Ahern, now sit on the Opposition benches.

I have little doubt this report has damaged the view of the Irish politician but I doubt the findings of the Mahon tribunal have surprised many. We need to ensure the citizens of Ireland regain confidence in their public representatives. We must ensure we have an Ireland of equals, a real republic, one that stands with the citizens not against them.

Deputy Billy Timmins

I commend the members of the Flood and Mahon tribunal, who took much stick over a long period. We all questioned the length and the cost but, irrespective of the length of time and its cost, it would always be subject to a certain amount of criticism. Short of bringing out the wrongdoers and decapitating them, there would never be satisfaction from the public at large. Although I welcome the report, I also find it depressing for a number of reasons. The first is that there is so much bad in it and so much bad was done by so many individuals. A blind eye was turned by many other individuals. It also depressing because many of the individuals who did so much bad also did some good. The main focus in recent times has been the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, whose evidence I do not believe. However, I acknowledge that he did some good during his time and it is important to acknowledge that, notwithstanding the fact that it does not exonerate him from the wrongdoing.

It is also depressing to listen to Sinn Féin lecturing Fianna Fáil. If I was to make a chart of the complaints about Sinn Féin I have come across, relative to Fianna Fáil over a 30 year period, I have no doubt that Sinn Féin would be the loser. It is a dishonest party that has murdered, maimed and manipulated. It has failed to acknowledge this although perhaps it is trying to go down a new path now. I have never heard members of Sinn Féin say they were sorry and I have never heard them tell the truth about what they were involved in. The Northern Bank robbery and the McCabe murder go to the back of the minds of most Irish people as they move on and forget. Sinn Féin vehemently denied both of those events although I am not sure if they still deny them. The fault I find with Sinn Féin, which is growing politically, is that the party is where Fianna Fáil was in the 1920s and 1930s. It puts the party before the State. Some Fianna Fáil members will take offence at this. That came home to roost in terms of some members of Fianna Fáil culminating in thelikes of this report but Sinn Féin doesnot have an interest in putting the State first. The advancement of the party is more important. I include some of the left wing Independents in that. I will not get a chance to speak about the household tax but it is important to state that if a Member of this Oireachtas who believes in the democratic process and accepts democracy and who was elected by the people to this House does not accept the democratic view of the House and refuses to pay the household charge, that is corruption in another form.

Where there are people, power and money, there will always be the potential for corruption. My colleague, the Minister of State, said we must make sure nothing like this every happens again but as sure as night follows day, this will happen again. Since Eve took the bite of the apple we have had corruption of sorts. We can blame the snake on that occasion but, ultimately, society has a weakness in that regard. We all have weaknesses as individuals and notwithstanding that I had a go at Sinn Féin, I do not like to be too judgmental on that because one never knows what forces an individual man or woman to do this but those in office in particular who have engaged in wrong-doing and involved themselves in corruption should be followed to the ends of the earth and made repay. We must ensure we have structures in place that will limit cases of corruption or that it will be discovered if it does occur.

Like most people I speed read most of the recommendations in the report and corruption and bribery appears to be very difficult to prove but we must move in that regard. I would abolish the Standards in Public Office Commission. I do not know what great purpose it achieves but whatever limited purpose it achieves could be incorporated into a new public interest office. We do not need a corruption office or a planning regulator, but a public interest office. I was never one to act on anonymous information but the tribunal recommends it and due to the climate of fear, the fear of authority and the uncertainty that exists, and a fear in terms of confidentiality, we should set up such a public interest office which should have a section dealing with anonymous information.

I hear the term that the dogs on the street knew about this corruption. I was not in politics in the early 1990s. I came into it in 1997 but no dog on the street ever came up to me and told me about corruption. One would often hear it in the ether, as one hears many things, but I am not inclined to believe what I hear in the ether. I do not necessarily believe in the adage that there is no smoke without fire. I do not believe that all people are corrupt. The majority of people, be they in Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour or whatever party, are decent, honourable people who are doing the best they can. Every party has the potential for corruption and wrongdoing, including Fine Gael. However, this report has shown that in Fianna Fáil, perhaps because it was in power the longest, there was bad practice, activities that were not in the public interest and corruption carried out at the highest level in the party. There was also complacency, as mentioned by an earlier speaker, or a blind eye turned to the difficulties. I was surprised to read about the former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, and the Flynn money. One would never associate the former Taoiseach with those deeds, yet he was informed of the Flynn donation and it appears he did nothing about it and appointed him subsequently as a Minister and a Commissioner.

That goes back to the concept of loyalty and the misconceived perception those of us in politics have about loyalty to the party and to the party leader. One must be loyal first to oneself and to the people one represents. People who speak about loyalty often are the people in control, not the general body. Loyalty and the misplaced concept of loyalty has given rise to many difficulties in Irish politics over the years.

One of the weaknesses in our system is that the Executive, irrespective of whether Labour, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil or whatever party is in power, holds all the power and it is very difficult to hold the Executive to account. The only way we can go some way in holding it to account is to have a committee system that can be independent of the Executive. That is an issue we have discussed in the past but we have done nothing about it. It has not happened in my time here nor has it happened to date during our Government's time in office.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

There are two minutes remaining.

Deputy Billy Timmins

I have so much to cover. We may need to reform the Dáil again.

The committee system must be able to hold the Government to account. Committees cannot be the arm of a Minister of a Department but until such a time as we change the mindset in that area we will not have change.

The most important recommendation in the report concerned the concept of corruption in office. The report refers to the charge introduced in legislation in 2001, and the need to increase that charge. That is something I hope the Minister for Justice and Equality will move on very quickly.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has come into the Chamber. There is a long list of recommendations about planning. There is mention of regional planning guidelines and that elected members have very little input into them. Many of the elected members of local authorities are not accountable to the people who elect them either. I look forward to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government radically reforming local government. He should abolish town councils, reduce the number of county councils and regionalise them, and have them elected and accountable.

I do not agree with the concept of the planning regulator. Who will be the planning regulator? Will it be the James Gogartys or the George Redmonds? I do not believe that all politicians are corrupt and that they cannot be put in these offices.

The report refers to establishing an independent appointments board. One of the boards I get the most complaints about is An Bord Pleanála which sometimes does a good job but sometimes does not. If we believe that an independent body or individual has a monopoly on righteousness or wisdom, we are wrong. Irrespective of what body we set up or who we appoint-----

Deputy Phil Hogan

It would not work.

Deputy Billy Timmins

-----there must be a system of checks and balances because the position is only as good as the individual in it, and the body must keep a hold on that individual, so to speak.

The most important aspect to arise out of this report is the need to have a public interest body to which confidential information can be given and that will have teeth, and that those of us in this House should examine reforming our committee system, and I do not mean the optics of reform. Committees can work independently and whether one is a Government or an Opposition Member they can prosecute the Government in the public interest and not in self-interest.

Deputy John Browne

I am delighted to see the Minister, Deputy Hogan, in the House. Perhaps he will announce deferral of the household charge until September as many people up and down the country want.

Deputy Phil Hogan

I am not a weak person like the Deputy. Wexford will never get anywhere with weakness like that.

Deputy John Browne

No. Wexford was always to the forefront. I was not involved in any public meetings, as the Minister is very much aware.

Deputy Phil Hogan

The Deputy nearly went to one.

Deputy John Browne

There are many dissatisfied people in Wexford.

To get back to the issue of the Mahon tribunal report-----

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Yes, please.

Deputy John Browne

-----which is more important, I welcome the report of the Mahon tribunal. Fifteen years is a long time to wait for that report, with a cost of €300 million. Some people I met in recent days wondered about the costs of the tribunal and were critical of the high amount of moneys paid to judges and barristers, but that was the position at the time. During my time as a Member, and the Minister, Deputy Hogan, has probably been here as long as me, we had the Flood tribunal report, the Moriarty tribunal report and now the Mahon tribunal report. We must learn lessons from all of the tribunals on where we should go for the future.

This tribunal has done valuable work in exposing wrongdoing by politicians across the political divide. I am sad to say that the majority involved in the Mahon tribunal have been from my party but some were from other parties as well. Deputy Billy Timmins mentioned Bertie Ahern who certainly did tremendous work on the peace process. We all want to acknowledge this, but unfortunately he is now caught up in the report from the Mahon tribunal. We can never lose sight of the work he did, with many people at the time, to bring peace to this island. It started with Albert Reynolds and continued with John Bruton and we must also acknowledge this. Bertie Ahern, with many other people, put the final touches to the peace process.

Corruption in any walk of life is very wrong, and it is even worse if it involves elected men and women in whom people put their trust as public representatives at local or national level. The Mahon tribunal report is a serious indictment of many people who held public office at all levels of public life, not only politicians but also officials. It is not good that people in such high office, either elected by large numbers of voters or officials in high positions, would carry out such misdemeanours. It is not acceptable and should not be tolerated now or ever.

I listened to the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, this morning when he attacked Fianna Fáil. We are used to him attacking Fianna Fáil and there is nothing new in it. The difference between his contribution and that of the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, was very striking. He had a holier than thou attitude about the Labour Party. As we all know, the high moral ground is a dangerous place to be and I will say no more on this.

The ambition of the thousands of decent and honourable Fianna Fáil people throughout the country is to improve the quality of life for our people. As the tribunal has pointed out, we have had some rotten apples in the barrel. They must be removed from the party. Some have been removed and others will be removed in the coming days. The party owes it to our thousands of supporters who are horrified by the report of the Mahon tribunal to clean up the act in our party. I have been in this House for a long time and I have worked with my colleagues in Wexford from many years since Deputy Howlin, Avril Doyle and I were first elected. All of those on the council at that time were decent and honourable and were there for the common good of the people. They were not there to take handouts or to be involved in corruption. Our only interest in the planning process at county council level was to improve the quality of life for our people to allow investments to take place, encourage people to invest in the county and introduce suitable county development plans.

Unfortunately during the Celtic tiger era the planning process went cuckoo. Local authorities lost control and county development plans went out the window and were ignored, certainly in Dublin and the larger cities. This was a major mistake. I remember when the county manager was reviewing the development plan he brought proposals for each electoral areas along with consultants' reports stating very clearly what was required for housing, retail and commercial activity over the coming five years. We then zoned the land based on these recommendations. It seems in some counties the county development plan and the reports of the county manager and the consultants were constantly ignored. As a result we now have cities and towns which have been destroyed. People live in ghettos and ghost estates. We have huge housing estates with thousands of houses built in an area with no shops, schools or sports facilities.

We also have out-of-town shopping centres where multinational supermarkets came in and played one county or town off another, threatening to move elsewhere if they did not get an out of town shopping centre. Unplanned developments have destroyed the heart of many smaller towns. In New Ross, Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Lidl and Aldi are all based on the outskirts and the heart of the town centre has been decimated. This was a mistake.

Recently I attended a funeral in Adamstown in west Dublin. The Minister, Deputy Hogan, has responsibility for the environment and I must say this type of development must never be allowed to happen again because it is not conducive to good living. People cannot live the way they should because of the lack of housing, schools, shops and other facilities. I hope we will not find ourselves in this position again.

During the Celtic tiger era we had a huge demand for planning. Wexford County Council dealt with 10,000 planning applications per year. It was unbelievable. There were few extra staff and decisions were made quickly. In some cases the wrong decision was made. Perhaps it has gone in the other direction but I am glad to say that at least those dealing with planning can make proper decisions. Last year, Wexford County Council received less than 1,000 planning applications. We would like to see this figure increase in the coming years but we would not like to return to the situation we were in previously.

The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, pointed out very clearly that it is very important we take on board the recommendations of the Mahon tribunal. She outlined some of the issues she will focus on, particularly with regard to planning and planning regulators. This situation should not be allowed to happen again. When the Minister replies to the debate, perhaps he will speak about the fact that the Moriarty tribunal report has been put on the shelf and none of its recommendations has been implemented.

The Minister withdrew the report on seven local authorities and will do an internal report on them instead.

Deputy Phil Hogan

I did not.

Deputy John Browne

Perhaps it will work. I am not here to criticise him.

Deputy Phil Hogan

I just want to clarify it. I know the smear tactics that are going on.

Deputy John Browne

When will the reports will be available? If they are not up to the standard required by the Minister, will he bring in outside consultants to follow up?

It is difficult to take a lecture from my friends on my right in Sinn Féin because they are not in a position to lecture Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party or any other party in the House. Sinn Féin's embrace of double standards on this issue is hard to take and is brass necked. Perhaps, as Deputy Billy Timmins stated, Sinn Féin is coming more and more into the democratic process. I hope it is and I hope it will continue down this road. As a member of Fianna Fáil who has tried to uphold the standards of people throughout the country for many years, I will not accept lectures from Sinn Féin. I hope the recommendations of the Mahon tribunal will be put in place as quickly as possible and we will not find ourselves in this position again.

In The Irish Times today Mr. Eoin O’Malley, who teaches politics at Dublin City University, wrote that Fianna Fáil is on the way out and is a dying party. He is probably in a very high-powered job and well paid and I say to him to go dance on somebody else’s grave as Fianna Fáil will be here for quite a long time to come.

Deputy Brendan Ryan

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is beyond dispute that the massive problems faced by ordinary families throughout the country have in large part been caused by the toxic relationship between politicians, developers and bankers. The report of the Mahon tribunal lays bare to all of us the extent to which this toxic relationship extended to the planning process. Several modules of the Mahon tribunal focused on irregular planning decisions in the town of Swords, the largest town in my constituency of Dublin North. While some 25 years ago Swords was a village in North County Dublin it is now a vibrant town with a population equivalent to that of Waterford city.

It is sad that a Swords resident who wishes to map the transformation of the town will have to refer to the Mahon report for a record of how certain planning decisions were made, which decisions were made against the advice of county managers and other local councillors. Swords is a town still coming to terms with the infrastructure needed for a town of its size. This is a direct cause of the decisions made by some corrupt councillors 20 years ago.

The Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, used the phrase this week in the House "a chronicle of betrayal, ignominy and disgrace" to describe the final report of the Mahon tribunal. Six words to describe a 14 year, multi-million euro investigation into all that was rotten in Irish politics at all levels and to describe the root of a problem, the branches of which stretch to poorly developed communities, inadequate infrastructure, ghost estates and a plethora of related problems for ordinary people.

I represent the constituency of Dublin North, which along with the west of Dublin, was the focal point of the Mahon tribunal's investigations. It was common knowledge among those with an interest in local politics that certain councillors were on the take and that the rezoning of certain areas of North County Dublin were the result of corrupt activities and inappropriate payments. As a political activist in the 1990s, I was aware of what was going on. It seemed to me everyone was aware it. The phrase "The Dogs on the Street" comes to mind.

While the Labour Party was fighting elections to the council and Dáil on shoestring budgets, largesse was being thrown about by politicians we knew were on the take. Following a series of tribunals, this is now official and denial is no longer possible. It took the heavy scrutiny of the tribunal inquiries, supported by members of the public, strong people in the media and upstanding public representatives, to finally bring the grubby practices of corrupt councillors and developers to light. In my constituency of Dublin North, Labour Party councillors led the charge against questionable rezonings. Former Deputy Séan Ryan and Mr. Tom Kelleher were very strong in their opposition to the corrupt rezonings. It is encouraging to read it being reflected a number of times in the Mahon report that they sponsored motions to undo the damage of the rezoning coalition partners. Councillors Ken Farrell and Bernie Malone also fought the good fight against the corrupt rezonings. I am proud of my constituency colleagues in all of these matters.

It is important for the public to know that even 20 years ago there were good honest public representatives from all parties discharging their duties honourably. The Labour Party did not need costly tribunals, media scrutiny or the heavy weight of public moral force to act against corrupt or inappropriate planning. We voiced our outrage at the time. We expelled the lone wrongdoer in our midst, which the public record reflects. I am disappointed, therefore, that the media coverage of the Mahon report this week is slow to acknowledge this and give us the credit we deserve. Deputy Clare Daly attempted in her contribution to link the Labour Party to the problem by reference to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, who was commended by Mahon. Her comments in this regard were beyond belief.

The Mahon report states that the corrupt and the corruptible will inevitably gravitate to the weakest link in the chain of anti-corruption measures. The task before us is, therefore, to ensure there is no weak link, no area which can be exploited by those who wish to place profit above the public good. The report contains many recommendations, one of which is that any politician found guilty of taking bribes be stripped of his or her lucrative pension. This recommendation should be implemented as soon as possible. The Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889 needs to be extended to cover those found guilty of taking bribes. It is an affront to the ordinary people of Ireland that former public representatives are in receipt of public pensions having being found guilty of corrupt practices. I believe this recommendation when implemented should be extended to include those guilty of having misled a tribunal, those found to have told untruths and those who have failed to explain vast sums of money in their accounts. It is not acceptable that a former Taoiseach cannot explain the source of £215,000 yet continues to draw more than €2,000 per week from the public purse as part of his Rolls Royce pension. With each pension payment cashed, it is the proverbial two fingers to the Irish people. The Irish people are suffering enough. They do not need this insult added to their injury. While the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, intends to introduce changes in this regard through the proposed Public Sector Pensions Bill I understand these measures cannot be retrospective, which is unfortunate.

The core area wherein corruption of the planning process took place was local government, which is the area on which many of report's recommendations focus. Corruption's natural home is in the shadows, unseen and hidden. As citizens, we need to shine a light on all our public representatives, including our councillors. While legislative changes have wrested some powers away from councillors vis-à-vis planning, the lesson that must be learned is that there must be greater engagement between local councillors and the people they represent. This is a two way-street. The people need to place their councillors under the same scrutiny as they do local gardaí, teachers and Dáil representatives. More needs to be done to link the public with their local councillors.

Arguably, the most talked about Government policy of the past number of weeks has been the household charge. Now is not the time to debate that issue although it is worth pointing out that the charge and the subsequent property tax to replace it next year are taxes which will fund local authorities. Previously, local authority funding came directly from central taxes, which I believe led to a certain disconnect between the public and their local authority. The fact that people will now be paying directly for their local services will lead to an even greater connection between people and their local council and councillors. I believe that those politicians who are opposing the introduction of local charges and property taxes at this time are mere political opportunists, engaged in cynical populism. I would certainly like to also see an end to that in Irish politics.

The report states that gaps in transparency and accountability have been reduced, although not eliminated. We all need to work to eliminate these gaps. One recommendation of the report is that anyone seeking a planning permission for a property be required to declare on their application form if they have donated more than €55 to a councillor. Why €55? I would go further and require that such person should declare any donation to a councillor and that this be extended to Deputies. While since the abolition of the dual mandate Deputies have no statutory relationship with the local authorities they can have relationships with their party colleagues on the council. Also, Deputies who were formerly councillors may have strong relationships with council officials. People should be aware, as are Members of this House, that council officials rather than councillors grant individual planning permissions. Councillors are responsible for zoning.

If we are to really tackle corruption, we should not be naive to the realities of political and party relationships. Political corruption is not a victimless crime. The victims are too many to name and cut across gender, class, religion and creed. The victims of these crimes are the families without promised crèche facilities or schools, the children without libraries, the communities without sports facilities or bus routes. I meet these people every day in my advice centres and on the streets of North County Dublin. Swords has a population of more than 50,000 people. It is still catching up to the demands foisted upon it by corrupt and totally irresponsible rezoning 20 years ago. Schools are overcrowded and oversubscribed, public transport is stretched to the bone and anti-social behaviour is on the rise. These are today's problems but the roots can be traced back to those councillors on Dublin County Council who took grubby little bribes from seedy developers. Those few councillors sold out the people of Swords and North County Dublin, who are still paying the price.

I welcome this report and hope that it will mark the beginning of the end of corruption in Irish politics. As Members of this House, we must implement the recommendations of this report and so quickly.

Deputy Catherine Murphy

This final report of the Mahon tribunal is lengthy. I doubt if any Member of the House has read it in full, myself included, although I have read a sizeable portion of it. In my view, the recommendations do not go to the heart of the problem in terms of their requiring reform of the system. I believe the current system needs to be changed. For example, it is safe to conclude that had the Kenny report been implemented we would not be debating the Mahon report nor would we be in the depth of economic crisis.

Prior to establishment of the Mahon tribunal to investigate planning corruption in the Dublin region, a £10,000 reward was offered by Colm McEochaigh and Michael Smith for information about corruption. This happened at a time when there was widespread media debate about the practices of the old Dublin County Council, in particular. Citizens in Dublin were often shocked by the decisions the council made and disgusted by the way those decisions were made. Those who proposed that an area be rezoned were often from the opposite side of the county to the location that would be affected. Therefore, there was no direct opportunity for the people of the area to do anything about the proposer at the next local election. The planning system and democracy itself were corrupted. Locations in west Dublin that are contiguous to the area I represent became absolute battlegrounds. Some of them, such as Laraghcon, are within or close to the Liffey Valley area.

Many people are talking about the shock they feel following the publication of the Mahon report. However, I am surprised that anyone could be shocked by the report. I am disgusted, but I am not shocked. I am disgusted that a tribunal was required. I am disgusted that it cost so much money. I am disgusted that it is being portrayed as a question of a few bad apples, rather than as a question of systemic failure and endemic political corruption, particularly within the Fianna Fáil Party. One has to ask why a tribunal of inquiry was necessary. What does it say about our legal system which failed so spectacularly to investigate and prosecute corruption? The same planning system that allowed such corrupt practices to take place in Dublin existed and continues to exist in the rest of the country. Anyone who thinks this type of abuse was not widespread is not living in the real world. It might be happening on a smaller scale, particularly in areas that are under less development pressure.

During most of the 1990s, the planning system lacked any strategic focus. Development plans were a nightmare, with landowners and their agents doing endless rounds of lobbying. People knocked on my door at 7 o'clock in the morning and at 11 o'clock at night. Anyone who has participated in the development plan process will be familiar with that. I never felt under any pressure because I did not feel I had an obligation to any land owner. I was elected to Kildare County Council in 1991. Part of the reason I stood for election was that I could not understand how we could keep building more and more houses without seriously considering where children would go to school and how community or recreational facilities could be provided. I did not understand why the development was so one-dimensional, when our communities are multidimensional. At the time, development was not about building communities - it was about building houses and building fortunes.

It amazed me that the Civil War parties seemed to be very united when it came to rezoning land. That is clear when one looks at the numbers. It was not about where the land was located. It did not matter if the land had previously flooded. It was not about the amount of land that was required, or predicted to be required. It was usually about who owned the land. The system was designed to act in the interest of making millionaires of the preferred landowners. The question was how one could become one of the lucky preferred landowners. No windfall tax was applied to such transactions to pay for infrastructure. Instead, in 1997 the then Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, cut capital gains tax in half. This was designed to fuel the demand for rezoned land. There was no connection between land use and transportation planning. When the DTO produced development scenarios for the greater Dublin area, we got was the worst case scenario. The dispersed pattern of settlement that resulted has made the delivery of sustainable public transport unobtainable. The same situation arises in relation to the delivery of sanitary services, particularly if we are to comply with European Union laws. Money has had to be diverted from health, education and social protection, or raised through additional taxation, potentially including water metering. The cost of the tribunal is the tip of the iceberg.

During the Kildare development plan process in the mid-1990s, I demanded that a strategy for development be included as a central part of the development plan. The then Department of the Environment - initially through Deputy Howlin and later through Noel Dempsey - agreed and such a strategy was subsequently included. This approach was heavily resisted by senior administrative council officials and most councillors. It involved quantifying the amount of land that had already been zoned and estimating the housing need, etc. It was basic stuff. It had the effect of reducing the rezoning orgy. Since then, the regional planning guidelines and the national spatial strategy have been produced. Unfortunately, the opportunity presented by the strategy was misused when efforts were made to give every Minister a hub, a spoke or a gateway. It needs to be revisited.

Those of us who dared to question the prevailing approach to planning, including representatives of community groups, were depicted as being anti-development and told to make sure the last person to leave switched off the lights. We were labelled as NIMBYs who did not know how the system worked. In most cases, all we were doing was trying to curb the worst excesses or demand a rationale for what was happening. A former Independent councillor in County Kildare, Tony McEvoy, took successful court actions, including in the High Court, at considerable risk to himself. He was one of two Independent councillors who were elected in the county on a "planning alliance" platform in 1999. That alliance existed because of the disquiet about what was happening.

Throughout the Mahon report, there is an emphasis on elected officials as the only people who might corrupt the system. However, many of the battles we had were with senior administrative officials. In some cases, it was difficult to rationalise the positions they took. When An Bord Pleanála made its decision on an eight-storey car park and apartment complex on Main Street in Leixlip, where the dominant building height is two storeys, one of its officials stated:

I find it extraordinary that it took the planning authority almost five years to refuse the proposal...certain officials of the planning authority assisted the developer's agent in redesigning the proposal during the assessment stages of the application. The proposed development shows...a brazen lack of consideration for the residents.

Transparency is constantly highlighted as a requirement by the Mahon report. I agree with that. In my experience, some practices, such as the use of non-statutory plans like masterplans or area action plans, are misused to give cover for decisions made. They lack transparency. Laws around their use need to be strengthened to ensure transparency. Indeed, I believe they need to be placed on a statutory basis. Last year, An Bord Pleanála finally put paid to a development on lands adjacent to Castletown House in Celbridge. The development involved nine blocks of up to seven storeys, mostly of apartments on a protected demesne in the Liffey Valley. The process in this case was far less than transparent and satisfactory. This was furiously fought by community groups for the guts of a decade. The land was zoned in the early part of the new millennium, with only a handful of councillors including myself resisting it.

Sustaining one's involvement in the political system is predicated on having sufficient funding to fight elections. Those of us who competed against people who had five, six or ten times as much money were always at a disadvantage. I welcome the recommendation that real-time information should be available so conflicts of interest can be gauged by the electorate. The recommendation on electing regional authorities is essential. We need to go much further, however. We need radical reform of our local government system. It should include the phasing-out of the county council system, as I have said previously. We should reduce the number of regional authorities. I absolutely agree that they must be democratically elected. A new tier of district council, with a primary role of place-shaping, should be established. That would build on the successes at community level, tap into what makes us successful as a people and regenerate our local government system.

I have listened to many of those who have commented inside and outside the House. Many speakers have said we need new young politicians. That is supposed to be the answer. People inside and outside this House acted ethically and properly in the planning process. I want to say that applies across the spectrum. I do not believe it is an issue of age. It is a question of acting in the public interest, having a civic morality, and being a democrat. There needs to be a route for investigations. Six areas have already been designated as requiring scrutiny. I believe that other complaints which have been made require answers as well. This report will be repeated unless we create a mechanism whereby such investigations can happen. That needs to happen as an absolute matter of urgency.

Deputy Noel Harrington

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the findings of the Mahon tribunal. The State has mainly been led by Fianna Fáil-led Governments since its foundation. Unfortunately, they have not served the country as best as they might have done, as outlined in the Mahon report. A gallery of three former taoisigh has been paraded through tribunals to account for decisions.

It must be remembered how fragile democracy and truth are. It is not so long ago that Ben Dunne was going to throw himself off a balcony in the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress hotel in Orlando in Florida in 1982. Had that not happened, we would never have known what was occurring. Had Mr. Pádraig Flynn not lost the plot on the "Late Late Show", we would never have known what was happening.

We must commend the initiative taken by a few. Many Deputies have spoken about individual politicians who worked against the grain to highlight what they regarded as corruption and the work of individuals such as Mr. Colm Mac Eochaidh and Mr. Michael Smith, who ran an advertisement seeking information on corruption in the planning process in Dublin. We must commend those people as we would never have found out what occurred without them. The culprits would have got clean away with their actions. That Mr. Gilmartin and Mr. Gogarty were prepared to give evidence in early tribunal hearings has also assisted greatly in highlighting the payments that were swirling around the world of development. I am afraid about what is in the Mahon report but I am terrified by what is not in it. How much more corruption was there that we are not aware of and how much more will never be discovered?

The main force against temptation is the prospect of getting caught. The report, through discovering illegal payments, has done this State some service, to paraphrase a former Taoiseach. If the report prevents even one corrupt payment, it must be applauded, but at some cost. The tribunal's investigation cost €250 million. Not only did people ride a coach and four through our legislation, they could just not tell the truth. That is the reality and that is why the taxpayer will have to foot the bill. Those named in the report could not behave ethically in government or before the tribunal and could not tell the truth.

It is an awful pity that those who warned us about Mr. Haughey from the very beginning, including George Colley, Des O'Malley, Mary Harney and Charlie McCreevy, were not listened to. Most of them went on to work with other Fianna Fáil leaders who have now been found out. This is a message for all political parties and those with political loyalties. We must analyse policies critically, not just from within this Chamber but within each party. As representatives and individuals, we cannot act as fans of a football team act. This must not be allowed to happen any more and we must be more critical.

We must remember that Mr. Ahern had given most of his evidence to the tribunal in advance of the 2007 general election, yet the people gave Fianna Fáil 76 seats. There is a salient lesson in that. A few people might remember the famous pronouncement by Mr. Brian Cowen during that general election campaign to the effect that his party would roast the Opposition slowly on a barbecue. Regrettably, Fianna Fáil did so in that election. Inevitably, however, the party later found itself on the very same spit and has suffered for it. That has also happened this State.

We now know that Mr. Charlie Haughey was even more flawed than Mr. Garret FitzGerald ever suggested. We know Mr. Albert Reynolds had his hand in many different pies and appointed people to his Cabinet whom he knew were less than savoury and, in some cases, corrupt, as has been proven. We now know that Mr. Bertie Ahern is not able to tell the truth. These people betrayed hundreds of thousands of citizens who honestly believed they were making the correct decision in voting for them. They appointed people they described as their friends to influential positions, for example, in Dublin Port Authority. That was normal. Corruption thrives when one is working in the darkness and shadows, to paraphrase the tribunal. It must be eliminated from society. Politics is about service and the people to whom I referred have done politics a disservice. They have corrupted two generations of politicians, practically all of them at the core of Fianna Fáil.

I am appalled by the evidence given to the tribunal regarding events in this House. Mr. Gilmartin met the Taoiseach and a cabal of Ministers whom he described as being worse than anything the Mafia could arrange. This is extreme language, but the tribunal was quite clear in this regard. It is shocking. That there were at least three Fianna Fáil groups trying to extort money on one occasion in one corridor speaks for itself.

These people were elected by the people and they betrayed the trust of the electorate. They let the electorate, themselves and their party down. They let down the people I meet on a daily basis who were once proud to say they were politically active. Some have said they were Fianna Fáil members from time to time but they do not say this any more, unfortunately or fortunately, because they feel badly let down.

I agree with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's statement that the tribunal report is incredible. This is the first bit of truth I have heard in years. He was a highly paid Minister for Finance, yet had to go out with a begging bowl. This was extraordinary, at a time when he could statutorily and legally earn no more than he could earn from his salary as a Minister. He went about as I described and could not operate a bank account, even when he was facing a court battle over his personal problems. What was he trying to do? What was he trying to prove and who was he trying to defraud? Was he trying to withhold information regarding a personal legal issue which nevertheless raised serious concerns? When he dragged his personal affairs up as evidence at the tribunal and in the media as a mitigating factor, we had a right to question that.

Some have stated the tribunal did not make a finding of corruption against former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. It did not have to make such a finding. Just because one cannot see something does not mean one cannot smell it. The Taoiseach subverted the State and damaged the political process. It will take generations to restore it.

I would love to see former Deputy Ahern before the courts to explain his actions. I do not want to say more than that because we have seen how former taoisigh have been let off the hook by statements made in this House and elsewhere. However, there is a case and I would like to see it made elsewhere. The taxpayer is paying. Every time taxpayers pay their mortgages, they should realise what occurred was not a victimless crime. They are paying for transactions involving illegal moneys and corruption.

There are many fine people in politics and most politicians are honest. I had the pleasure of serving on Cork County Council from 1999. I went through two county development plan processes and two local area plan processes and I was chairman of the regional authority when engaging in the regional planning guidelines process. That the reputation of individual authorities is left hanging because of the activities of Dublin local authorities, as outlined in the tribunal report, needs to be addressed.

Certainly since 1999, and perhaps since 1991, before which year I do not have records, only one section 4 motion was passed by Cork County Council. It concerned pylons over Cork Harbour, in respect of which public concern was considerable. The members voted for the motion knowing they would be personally liable for any costs incurred. Any material contraventions or variations that happened to go through the council from 1999 to 2011 went through on the recommendation of management.

It is difficult in some cases to reconcile what was happening in Dublin with my experience in Cork County Council. That council had a strategic plan for its area that was much praised by the planning institutions and regarded as a model for the way to move forward on spatial and strategic planning. More recently, the council, in its development plan, made proposals whereby services would be installed before zoning for housing.

This harks back to the limits pertaining to what local authorities and planning authorities can do. Through local authorities, one can plan to move people, particularly through local authority development plans. The authorities can plan to move people on the basis of various land issues but they have no say in respect of local education, schools, hospitals and Garda stations. I include also local issues, rather than policy issues.

This is a significant stumbling block in proper and sustainable planning. That should also be addressed in a discussion we will have with local government. It is a different debate but it is a good development if the Mahon tribunal can focus on improving local and national government, transparency and enhancing the role of the public in policy. While it is pricey at the cost of €250 million, regrettably that is the world in which we live. I hope after the Mahon tribunal we will live in a better world and more transparent society.

Deputy John McGuinness

I wish to share time with Deputy Brendan Smith.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Peter Mathews)

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Deputy John McGuinness

I listened carefully to the contributions made by many of the new Deputies who would have been very young at the time the events in question were going on and had no association whatsoever with the political culture and the process in place then. I did not know where to start in my contribution. When I look back on 1979 when I was first elected to Kilkenny Borough Council, if I had been told then that all of this referred to in the report was going on in politics either locally or nationally, I would not have believed it. In my time both on the borough and county councils, I served with people from Fianna Fáil and other political parties who gave their time to public service. It was a job they were elected to do on behalf of their communities which they took seriously. They also took the political engagement and their participation in their political parties seriously while doing it with pride. That was the politics that I came into, enjoyed and to which I committed myself. I do not know what happened in the course of time that changed much of that.

The report from the Mahon tribunal sets out what happened in the political system and administration, as a beginning, in Dublin - I am not saying it did not happen in other areas - events of which I am ashamed. I never thought it could happen but it did. From a public service view, when one reads the report it is shocking that in some way this was not arrested when it began. It has contaminated and corrupted the whole political system, casting a bad reflection and doubt on each and every one of us in politics. Arising from the recommendations of the Moriarty and Mahon tribunal reports, we will have to work on legislation to ensure this will never happen again, either locally or nationally.

From my party's perspective, I am also ashamed of what happened with every party leader and Taoiseach involved in the tribunal and what went wrong with corruption in the State. Ordinary and decent members of the Fianna Fáil Party who wanted to make a contribution have been betrayed. As public representatives and ordinary individuals, when we made presentations to Ministers at the time in question, we showed them respect, not knowing the extent of corruption and activities in which they and other members at parliamentary and council level were engaged.

I appeared before the Mahon tribunal for all but two minutes. One would not want one's name mentioned in the same line as a tribunal of inquiry. Some of the reporting has been lazy - I will not say inaccurate - in the context of how it is portrayed for different people who are uncomfortable about the fact they had to attend the tribunal.

I want to join with the House in acknowledging that the Garda, Criminal Assets Bureau, Revenue, or any other arm of State deemed necessary to be involved, need to be brought into action quickly arising from the report's findings. It must be clearly displayed to the public that we are about our business and setting about ensuring those who have been proved of wrongdoing will be brought to justice. The public also wants to see the political system becoming more transparent and honest with them.

From the perspective of the Fianna Fáil Party, we must do a large amount of work to rebuild trust with the public and our own membership. We must ensure protocols and regulations are in place that will display to the public that we can rebuild a political party for which many people were elected to office on the basis of good public service and nothing else. I acknowledge it was wrong of those involved in the activities in question and so corrupt of them in the terms of the money that was taken. In the context of reform and new legislation, there is a role for the register of friendly societies and for legislation affecting political parties, legislation which has not been reformed since the late 19th century. In Canada and other places, reforming legislation in this area has been put in place to great effect to ensure political parties become more transparent. I acknowledge the very poor display by Fianna Fáil personalities down through the years.

Deputy Brendan Smith

The endemic corruption exposed and outlined in the Mahon tribunal final report is shocking, showing that public representatives at different ranks truly betrayed the trust of the people. People engaging in corrupt practices have no role in public life and must be held accountable for their actions. Immediately in the aftermath of the publication of the report, the Fianna Fáil Party leader, Deputy Martin, stated clearly and without equivocation the party accepts the findings of the tribunal and condemns the individuals who, as representatives of our party, betrayed the public trust that had been placed in them by the electorate. Immediately moves were initiated to take action against those who behaved in a disgraceful manner. It upsets and sickens me that people could engage in such behaviour. The behaviour of several public representatives in the 1980s and early 1990s is deplorable. It has been stated already that the report found a number of public representatives from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and one Labour councillor had undermined the planning process in Dublin with corrupted decisions.

With electoral success, Bertie Ahern had the trust of the people placed in him and the trust of the party by electing him to high office. Of course people of whatever rank in public life cannot betray the trust of the people. It was absolutely wrong and totally inappropriate for Pádraig Flynn to accept that cheque from Mr. Gilmartin. Such behaviour was a disgrace. While the central allegation against Bertie Ahern was not sustained, the evidence confirmed by the tribunal, and comments relating to him, are extremely serious. It is clear the receipt by a senior officeholder of large amounts of money, which a sworn tribunal has held is of unclear origin, and the failure to give any credible explanation, requires an unequivocal response.

In proposing the motion of expulsion of several members of Fianna Fáil, including a former leader, Deputy Martin stated the outstanding achievements, such as the Good Friday Agreement, which are of significant importance to all of our people and island, do not absolve Bertie Ahern from facing the implications of this report. At the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis recently, the party leader stated he would act swiftly and definitively on the findings of the Mahon tribunal report, irrespective of how tough the findings were. He has done so. This is unlike the approach which Fine Gael and Labour followed in ignoring the evidence and criticisms levelled in the Moriarty tribunal report.

Fianna Fáil rank-and-file members across the country, as Deputy McGuinness said, are furious that some public representatives abused their positions for personal gain. They have been hurt by the damage done to a party of whose traditions they are rightly proud. Those traditions and the party's work for this country have been undermined by the actions of a small number of people.

I have had the privilege of being elected to Dáil Éireann five successive times and am the third member of my family to have served in public office. I appreciate the trust that the electorate of Cavan-Monaghan have placed in me each of those times. Neither I nor anyone in the House or public life takes that for granted. We work diligently, hard and honestly to represent our constituents to the best of our ability and to retain their trust. This goes for the overwhelming majority of all public representatives, be they at local authority level or Members of the Oireachtas.

On an ongoing basis, I depend on the support of my local public representatives and our organisation. The people who support and work on behalf of our party at cumann, comhairle cheantair and comhairle Dáil cheantair level do so out of a genuine commitment to their local communities. They do not seek any personal gain. They are available to help out with ongoing political work and are called upon at election time to make a considerable effort without reward and at a cost to themselves. Understandably, they have been hurt and angered by the behaviour of a small number of people within the Fianna Fáil Party.

It does not take a political scientist to analyse why our support declined so much in the Dublin area, as shown in successive local authority elections. It was in the early 1990s that our former party colleague, Michael Smith as the Minister for the Environment, stated that planning in Dublin had become a debased or devalued currency. He set about dealing with those issues. It is now clear why Dublin County Council was split into a number of authorities. The actions of a number of Dublin councillors subverted the democratic system and significantly betrayed the trust of the electorate.

From 1997 on, the Fianna Fáil Party in government introduced a comprehensive series of measures to ensure the maintenance in public office of the highest ethical standards. With the support of all sides of the House, planning laws have been strengthened and reformed to reduce the potential for corruption.

I appeal to the Government to implement the Mahon tribunal report's sensible and practical recommendations at the earliest possible date. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, are familiar with the local government system and know how essential it is that the system's reform be done right. I disagree with Deputy Catherine Murphy's opinion that county structures are outdated. Each of us has a large attachment to county structures, boundaries and so on. Regional planning guidelines on which county development plans are based have been put in place. I appeal to the Minister of State and the Minister to carry out a consultative process so that we can get the reform of local authorities right. The role of councillors is of the utmost importance in this respect. When they are first elected, they must be given good training and their responsibilities and powers must be outlined to them. All wisdom does not reside in officialdom.

Deputy Jerry Buttimer

I regret that we must debate this report. The tribunal should not have been necessary, but that it was is an indictment of the political system. During the debate, most Fianna Fáil Members have discussed their party rather than the people, communities and country we are elected to serve. This is regrettable. As politicians, we are elected to serve all of the people, not just the chosen few, the vested interests or the golden circle. Whatever else comes from this report, we must never allow politics to become the preserve of the rich and those who can fund themselves. It must never become an elitist democratic system. Instead, it should be concerned with everyone.

The Mahon tribunal report shows that certain politicians betrayed the sacred trust bestowed by people when they cast their votes, which is a solemn undertaking. The report has damaged everyone in politics, not just those against whom the tribunal found. Political parties and politicians are judged on many factors. When people vote, they consider our track records, including who we supported and defended and what we did. One of the most important tasks we face as members of political parties is the selection of our leaders. Our decision gives an insight into a party's culture, ethos, standards and tolerated practices. This fact applies across the world.

The Mahon tribunal report has confirmed that three successive leaders of Fianna Fáil - Mr. Haughey, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Ahern - acted inappropriately at best. According to the report, Mr. Reynolds abused political power and Mr. Ahern's evidence was untrue. Contrast these names with those of Garret FitzGerald, Alan Dukes, John Bruton, Michael Noonan, Enda Kenny, Eamon Gilmore, Pat Rabbitte, Dick Spring and Ruairí Quinn. It is a wide chasm. Why were people who believed they were beholden to others elected to political office? I cannot figure it out. I have read all of the recommendations, but I have not read all of the report.

There is a direct link between the current Fianna Fáil Front Bench and the actions of that party's former leader, Mr. Ahern. He led it in government for 14 years. Whether the Front Bench likes it or not, members of those Governments went out on the plinth and the public airwaves to defend him. Why did the former Minister, Deputy O'Dea, apologise on television this week if he had not tried to undermine the tribunal? Why did Fianna Fáil's current leader and a then Minister, Deputy Martin, castigate the tribunal? I challenge him to listen to his interview with Matt Cooper on Today FM.

Irrespective of our political and ideological differences, we have a duty to uphold the highest ethical standards. We must uphold the law regardless of whether we agree with it. This applies to those who oppose the household charge. We must respect the State, its institutions and processes and, most importantly and irrespective of whether we agree with them, the people we represent.

If we betray standards, there must be consequences. Those who are found guilty of wrongdoing must face rigorous penalties, be they civil, criminal or financial. For this reason, it is important that the tribunal's report become not just an end, but a bridge to changing the culture. I hope that people will be imprisoned, have their pensions removed and be stripped of the dignity they have enjoyed to date. By their actions, they have denigrated every Deputy.

I agree with Deputy Smith, in that the Government must make and implement recommendations on political reform if we are to restore the people's trust in politicians. Elected representatives must understand that, if they transgress, there will be consequences. It is time that we had a new electoral commission to run elections and regulate what Independents and political parties can spend and receive between elections.

I have no difficulty with introducing a blanket ban on donations but we must understand what it will mean for politics. How will political parties and independent politicians fund the democratic system? I am all in favour of State support for politicians because it means everything will become transparent and the responsibility will rest with the political parties and the politicians. Senator Bradford raised an important question when he asked the Seanad if politicians and political parties should stop sponsoring golf events, race nights or sporting and community organisations. If we are divorced from these activities nobody can say, "You gave me X amount of money, so I will look after you".

We should have a real debate about how we fund politics and how we operate rather than merely seeking the cheap headlines certain newspapers and media organisations would love. We saw what happened to the Tories in England last week. The US presidential and congressional election system is enormously expensive. We must never allow our democracy to be taken over by the chosen few.

We must take this report seriously by putting in place the recommendations it contains. The five anti-corruption principles set out in the report are transparency, accountability, top level commitment, public support and monitoring and review. We must change An Bord Pleanála and the planning system from top to bottom. Planning hearings for major developments should be held in public. We can no longer allow the planning process to continue in its current form. At present it gives an indemnity to some. If we have public oral hearings on every major planning decisions, people would be able to see what is happening. That would allow the public to see how the official, the developer and the politician conduct their business. I support the recommendation in the report to put the national development plan and the national spatial strategy on a statutory footing because it would remove the suspicion of political cronyism and manipulation in the development of these important policy areas.

The actions of a few have undermined the political system. We must restore trust through proactive reform that protects the people instead of hiding the few. If Deputy Martin is serious about ending Punch and Judy politics, he should reflect on the comments he made in this House and elsewhere about the tribunal. Politics requires us to serve all the people, not just some of them.

Deputy Michael Colreavy

I am not usually at a loss for words but I find it difficult to speak for two reasons. First, it is difficult at the end of three days of debate to say anything that has not been said already. Second, as Deputy Buttimer noted, we should not have to be speaking about these matters. I prepared a speech last night but I will ignore most of it because I want to reflect on where we have come from and where we want to go.

The Democratic Programme of the first Dáil, which was adopted on 21 January 1919, states:

We declare in the words of the Irish Republican Proclamation the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies to be indefeasible, and in the language of our first President, Pádraíg Mac Phiarais, we declare that the Nation's sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the Nation, but to all its material possessions, the Nation's soil and all its resources, all the wealth and all the wealth-producing processes within the Nation, and with him we reaffirm that all right to private property must be subordinated to the public right and welfare.

We declare that we desire our country to be ruled in accordance with the principles of Liberty, Equality, and Justice for all, which alone can secure permanence of Government in the willing adhesion of the people.

We have come a long way from that aspiration.

In some respects the Mahon report is only catching up with informed public opinion because many of us have been saying for years that the entire system of government was rotten from top down. Corrupt politicians colluded with people of deep pockets to satisfy their greed for money. Society knew this. Fianna Fáil criticised us for lecturing on the matter but the people passed their verdict on that party in the last election. The report described in stark terms the extent to which our system of governance was undermined over a lengthy period.

It only looked at Dublin, however, and we all know there is corruption elsewhere. Many of the beneficiaries of this corruption have gone unpunished and continue to enjoy the fruits of their ill-gotten gains. Indeed, some of them are still held in reverence in certain quarters. Instead of being treated as the social pariahs they are, they are looked up to and admired. What sort of example is that for the young people of this country? When can we stand proud as a nation and declare we have a system of governance that looks after their interests and ambitions and which has the public good as its first and only consideration?

We cannot rest secure in the knowledge that the same corruption is not happening today. Just yesterday every Member of the Oireachtas received an e-mail which outlined serious allegations against a named senior judge, the Garda and the planning authorities. If true, these allegations would lead me to believe there was a conspiracy against the democratic and legal rights of a law abiding citizen of this State. I do not know if these allegations are true, but if they are not investigated we will never find out. We cannot just bin e-mails like that. We need to follow up on them because practice has shown that failure to respond to such allegations gives rise to the environment where corruption occurs.

I describe Sinn Féin as ideologically the main Opposition party. We also have lessons to learn from the Mahon report. The Government side also has lessons to learn from the Mahon report. The Nyberg report referred to the herd mentality and of the Government's failure to listen to the voices of caution at the time. Sometimes in the exchanges in the Chamber here I see the same failure to listen. I see abuse replacing debate and opinions being laughed at, which is not good enough. Had there been better opposition, we would not now be analysing the degree and level of corruption that has been exposed in the Mahon tribunal. Part of the responsibility of an opposition is to ensure better government. Opposition is a part of governance. Where we see corruption, we will stand up and fight to have it changed. Regardless of how powerful or great the source of that corruption is, we will not be found wanting.

On Tuesday, Deputy Adams said we need a new and better Republic and he is right. In a way we need to go back to the principles that underpinned the democratic programme of Dáil Éireann. We need to get back to the citizens of the State being able to have confidence that what is being done in their name is the right thing. Even if it is something with which individuals disagree, they should know it is being done for the right reason. The citizens need to be sure that, regardless of how deep their pockets, these cliques and golden circles are broken and gone forever. Only then will we truly be on the road to the new Republic that in our hearts we all know is needed. Otherwise we will have learned nothing from that report and these three days of debate.

An Ceann Comhairle

I call Deputy Maloney, who is sharing time with Deputy Seán Kenny.

Deputy Eamonn Maloney

I acknowledge the service done to the State by the two individuals who placed the advertisement in The Irish Times in 1995 - Michael Smith, the former chairman of An Taisce, and the barrister, Colm Mac Eochaidh. That advertisement led us to where we are today having this debate about the Mahon tribunal. It did not immediately lead to the establishment of the tribunal, but as a consequence in 1997 this Parliament set up the tribunal - it was not done by the Government but by the House. From reading the transcript of the debate at that time, there was from some quarters - not all because there are decent people in all political parties - within the Fianna Fáil-led Government at the time a sense of reluctance over the establishment of the tribunal. As Deputy Colreavy and others have rightly stated, we should not be having this debate at all and would not be having it if people elected to this Parliament had behaved themselves properly and not been in receipt of corrupt payments.

Since it was established, people have had a go at this tribunal, not always Fianna Fáil people but Progressive Democrats people also. Having taken the praise in one respect for establishing it, they then set about attacking the tribunal both directly and indirectly. I have listened to some of the contributors to the debate from the Opposition side bemoaning the fact that it cost a lot of money - which it did - and the duration of the tribunal. However, the money and time would not have been spent if some members of the Fianna Fáil Party had behaved themselves. They obviously did not and that is why we are having this debate.

As a Labour Deputy I am proud that no Labour Deputy or councillor is indicted in the report. During this debate some Opposition Members have challenged the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan - he has been challenged quite a lot in recent days - regarding not publishing reports into local authorities outside Dublin. My advice to them is that they should be careful what they wish for. As the previous speaker said, those who think this is just a Dublin problem should hold their breath because there is other stuff coming out in these reports. This issue was not just confined to Dublin and there is some horrific stuff in it.

Like everybody else, I was selective in the parts of the Mahon report I read. One person in particular was vilified. I am not defending the man because he made payments, but I am talking about Tom Gilmartin. I know nothing about him that is worth talking about. The truthfulness of his contribution stands out. I know he gave money, but I have certain sympathy for people who, like me, had to emigrate to Britain and elsewhere at some stage. Tom Gilmartin was one of those people. He did not have to give his testimony and could have turned the other way as some others did. This man was vilified. Ironically, he came back to this country having been abroad and found himself in this building with a Minister, Pádraig Flynn, wearing his Armani suit, trying to take £50,000 from his pocket. He then found himself out in County Dublin faced by men in black glasses who would not show their faces under the guise of being republicans. They were also trying to get their fingers into his wallet. For a man in this situation it must have been quite a dilemma.

I have a very simple analysis of people in high places who took corrupt payments. I know what they should do - they should do time in jail.

Deputy Seán Kenny

As a former member of a Dublin local authority during the 1980s and 1990s, I welcome the Mahon tribunal report and its findings. The report has taken a decade and a half to complete but I believe it was worth the length of time and the cost involved.

I will refer to several modules of the tribunal. First, I refer to Cloghran and Cargobridge modules. Cloghran is located on the boundary of my constituency, Dublin North-East, close to Dublin Airport. In 1992, there was a campaign to rezone lands at Cloghran for the Cargobridge warehousing consortium. One difficulty for the consortium, which included Neptune Freight, was that access to this site was over lands owned by the Minister for Transport. On 1 October 1992, the Fianna Fáil Deputy, John McGuinness, then a member of Kilkenny County Council, made direct representations by letter to the then Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, to allow the consortium to access the site over the lands owned by Minister for Transport. At the same time, Deputy McGuinness's brother, Michael McGuinness, was a director of Neptune Freight. The Mahon report states that Michael McGuinness gave £10,000 in cash to Frank Dunlop in the knowledge that at least part of the money would be used for corrupt purposes. The report also states that Michael McGuinness refused to attend the tribunal.

The Fianna Fáil Deputy, John McGuinness, recently made strong, trenchant attacks and criticisms of the Mahon tribunal report following its publication, especially in respect of the tribunal costs. At the same time, he neglected to refer to his own intervention in the Cargobridge affair. Earlier today during his contribution in the Chamber, Deputy McGuinness failed to address the Mahon report remarks on his involvement in the affair. That is deplorable. Deputy McGuinness is currently Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts. I call on Deputy John McGuinness to step aside as Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts in the light of the Mahon tribunal account of his involvement in the Cargobridge affair.

A major part of the tribunal report deals with the Quarryvale lands. At the time of the rezoning of these lands I was an elected member of Dublin City Council. Part of the Quarryvale land, approximately 64 acres, although located in the Dublin County Council area, was in the ownership of Dublin Corporation, as it was then called. Any sale or disposal of these lands was a reserved function of the elected members of Dublin Corporation. In 1988, these lands were considered by Dublin County Council as suitable for commercial development. Early in 1989, Dublin Corporation proceeded with the sale of these lands by way of public tender. On 19 May 1989, a written report was put to the Dublin Corporation planning and development committee, of which I was then a member, to sell the Quarryvale lands to Mr. Thomas Gilmartin for the sum of £5.1 million. On that day the planning committee approved the proposal on the recommendation of the manager. At the following monthly meeting of Dublin City Council on 12 June, the recommendation of the planning committee was agreed by the full council meeting following the proposal of the Fianna Fáil councillor, Joe Burke.

The Mahon tribunal was set up in 1997 and its hearings on the Quarryvale module began in early 1999. I was greatly alarmed and shocked at the revelations made known at the tribunal hearings some ten years after Dublin City Council had voted on the matter, a vote in which I had participated. Page 211 of the report notes that Mr. Thomas Gilmartin, who I accept to be an honest man, informed the tribunal of a discussion he had with Bertie Ahern, the then Minister for Labour, in May 1989 in respect of Mr. Gilmartin's tender which was under consideration for the purchase of the Quarryvale lands.

Mr. Gilmartin told the tribunal that some days after his discussion with Bertie Ahern, Councillor Joe Burke, then the vice chairman of the Dublin Corporation planning committee, arrived at Mr. Gilmartin's office. Joe Burke told Mr. Gilmartin that he had been sent by Bertie Ahern to discuss Mr. Gilmartin's acquisition of the Quarryvale lands. Mr. Gilmartin further told the tribunal that he received a telephone call from Councillor Joe Burke on 13 June 1989 informing him that Dublin Corporation had approved his tender.

In the light of these revelations in 1999, ten years afterwards, I came to the conclusion that many of the Dublin Corporation members who voted for the sale of the Quarryvale lands were not given all the background facts relating to the activities of the Fianna Fáil Councillor, Joe Burke, and the then Minister, Bertie Ahern. At the least, Joe Burke misled his colleagues by failing to inform them of his role in the Quarryvale affair. Certainly, he never told me what he was at.

I could go on but I will conclude by saying that I agree fully with the recommendations in the report. I support the views that political corruption diverts public resources to the benefit of the few and to the detriment of the many; that corruption in public office is a fundamental breach of public trust and is inherently incompatible with the democratic nature of the State; and that anti-corruption measures must focus on ensuring transparency and accountability. I am proud to have been a Dublin Labour Party councillor for almost 32 years before I was elected to the House on 25 February last. There is more I could say but, unfortunately, time will not allow it.

Deputy Joan Collins

The Mahon tribunal report is vast, running to more than 3,000 pages. The most telling quote is from the introduction. It refers to how throughout the late 1980s and 1990s corruption in Irish political life was both endemic and systematic. It affected every level of government from some of the holders of top ministerial office to local councillors and its existence was widely known and tolerated. The second statement is more devastating than the first. The political and business establishment knew and accepted that something was rotten in the relationship between business and politicians. This applied not only to the political establishment, but to the business elite. Someone cannot be bribed unless there is someone wishing to bribe them.

Chapter 2 of the report dealing with Quarryvale was referred to by a previous speaker. Chapter 2, part 4 deals with the relationship between Tom Gilmartin, Owen O'Callaghan and Frank Dunlop with Allied Irish Banks. This is the rogue bank among rogue banks. It competes well with Anglo Irish Bank and National Irish Bank for the title. This bank has bought us the ICI debacle of 1985, the bogus non-resident accounts, the DIRT scandal, loan write-offs to Charlie Haughey and Garret FitzGerald, rogue trading by John Rusnak, the Faldor tax evasion scheme for executives and customer overcharging.

Let us consider the Mahon tribunal report statement about Allied Irish Banks, AIB, and its senior officials who dealt with the Quarryvale development. AIB applied considerable pressure on Tom Gilmartin to give control of the project to Owen O'Callaghan. In the process, it acquired a 20% stake in the development. The tribunal was satisfied that senior personnel at AIB were aware of the corrupt payments to councillors. Incredibly, the senior official and manager in charge of the Gilmartin account recommended to the bank's credit committee that a loan be conditional on the then Minister for the Environment, Pádraig Flynn, telephoning the bank to confirm that the site would receive tax designation status.

In November 1992, Mr. O'Callaghan informed an AIB manager, Michael O'Farrell, that the council vote on rezoning would take place in December and that substantial additional costs would likely arise. Mr. O'Farrell noted in a memorandum of the meeting that the vote would be tight, that Mr. O'Callaghan was lobbying continuously and that he had injected a further £85,000 into the situation. It is absolutely scandalous. The tribunal found that Mr. O'Farrell was made aware of the £85,000 and how it was spent on lobbying councillors. Where is Mr. O'Farrell today? He is head of intermediary services at the bailed-out AIB. AIB offered remarkable services to Frank Dunlop. He was able to fill suitcases with up to £100,000 of cash withdrawals, especially at election time. He was also able to cash cheques made out to a Barry McCarthy, a fictitious person. What does this suggest? These shenanigans were known practices in business, banking and politics.

This problem is not peculiar to Ireland. Let us consider the spending in the USA, where hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent by the wealthy and those in big business to buy the presidential elections. Across the water, we have witnessed the recent spectacle of the United Kingdom Prime Minister hosting £250,000 per head private dinners in his apartment at 10 Downing Street. This is not a case of a few bad apples in Ireland and elsewhere. It is a systematic, well-organised corruption of the democratic process by capitalism. It involves the capitalist class, big business and international finance buying a favourable climate for business. These people would not give one the proverbial steam off their wastewater without seeking something in return.

Where light touch regulation is a preference in Government contracts, low or non-existent taxation and high incomes and extraordinary personal wealth accrue. Fianna Fáil just happened to be the party in power for 61 of 80 years of this republic. It is the party caught in the quagmire and pulled into the cesspit of this type of light touch regulation and its use by capitalism and big business in this country.

This type of regulation has created a society where, as indicated in 2010 CSO figures, in a situation in which we are all supposed to be together and where we all have to make sacrifices, the gap between the richest 20% and the bottom 20% has increased by 25%. The income of the top 20% grew to five and a half times greater than the income of the bottom 20%. The 5% drop in average household income affected the poorest most and a rise in consistent poverty to 6.2% has affected 8% of children and 11% of adults of working age. To date, I have not seen a Government audit of the effect of the recent budget on children or on the poor. The mud-slinging in this debate between the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour parties makes for a disgusting spectacle. All three parties stand condemned, either for presiding over or for being aware of this endemic corruption and doing nothing. I have always been in politics with parties that did not fund themselves through bank robberies or by being bank-rolled.

The first experience I had of development planning came when I was elected as a councillor in 2004, towards the end of the process of developing the plan for 2005-11. I saw clearly then how vested interests can apply pressure on politics and councils. At that time, there was an issue with regard to the rezoning of religious lands and continual representations were being made to the council by the religious hierarchy with regard to ensuring their lands would be rezoned in a way that would bring in the greatest return on the sale of the lands. It was disgusting to see this.

The first experience I had of how the system operates came in May 2005 when the Crumlin feasibility study suddenly appeared. We were all called to a meeting in the area. A plan had been envisaged that had no legal status in planning law, but a feasibility study had been produced in which all of Crumlin village was to be transformed into a village of four and five-storey apartment blocks. A number of these apartment blocks were seen on the feasibility study plan to be on lands to the rear of the church. We did not know that within a couple of weeks, the church would sell that land to the developer making the highest bid. It was sold for €3.1 million and the plans for that land were just the start of what comprised the feasibility study. When we appealed the plans to An Bord Pleanála, irrespective of the fact that we were told the feasibility study had no legal status within the plan for 2005-11, the study was taken into consideration by the board to allow the development to go ahead.

The links between auctioneers, developers, business people, politicians and city managers became part of an endemic system following the rezoning issues and corruption in planning from 1993 onward. We have all seen examples of this in our community. For example, a business man who owned shops on Keeper Road allowed the shops go to rack and ruin and the council allowed the community hall beside them to go the same way. Then suddenly, a planning application was submitted for an eight-storey apartment block on the site. We had a public meeting in the area on the issue and most of the people in the community resisted the plan and did not want to see this apartment block developed. The council argument was that the place was in ruins and kids were banging balls against the shutters every night and it was better to build something to change the situation. At our public meeting, I was nearly pulled out of my chair by the developer who had made the planning application and Fine Gael politicians who attended the meeting tried to disrupt it because of their interests with the developer.

I also attended a meeting in Bluebell when the local area plan was being put through and again the plan was concentrated on developing apartments and on putting up houses on Lansdowne Valley, which was a lovely parkland area. This plan was opposed and when I suggested a moratorium should be put on the plan on the basis that there had been insufficient access and input to it, I was vilified by the then Fine Gael councillor who is now a Deputy in the area. I was vilified for challenging the right of property developers. Their right was sacrosanct and the people's rights were as nothing. What happened was outrageous. Throughout the Dublin 12 area, petrol stations, pubs and community halls have been closed down and their lands have been submitted for planning. Factories and businesses have been closed, for example, Unilever, Eason's, Lyons Tea, Nissan and others, all in the interest of developers and planning.

If people want to see a change from corruption, they should not vote for parties that have been involved in this. They must demand transparency and accountability. I agree that payments to political parties should be abolished.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Fergus O’Dowd)

This important debate comes after a long process, much of which was debated in the public domain, and after a long period of reflection for the tribunal before producing a result. The findings of the tribunal are serious, significant and true. As other Deputies have said, planning corruption has been endemic in our country.

It is not the case that all the right is on one side and all the wrong on the other. Out of eight seats here, five of them would be filled by Fianna Fáíl people who were involved, Messrs Haughey, Burke, Ahern, Reynolds and Flynn. All of these were found to have acted inappropriately in terms of planning and some of them were found to have acted corruptly. Undoubtedly, in the serried ranks behind Fianna Fáil for many years, there were many fine decent people and I acknowledge that. However, when Fianna Fáil states that only a small number of people were involved in corruption, it was the people at the top of and the leaders of the party who were involved. That is the reason the country is in the place it is in now. It is because of the relationship between politics, planning, building and houses and the other issues mentioned by Deputy Collins.

I was first elected as a councillor in 1974 and was very concerned, as is everybody here, about proper planning and development. In Drogheda, we had a listed building in the centre of the town, Drogheda Grammar School. It was on a two-acre site in the heart of the town and was protected by a High Court order and could not be demolished without planning permission. The old school was built around the 1740s and was of national importance as a historic building and an example of Georgian architecture. I am sure Deputies can guess what happened. One holiday weekend in the middle of the night a developer knocked the school down. This would have provided him with a fabulous clear site with no encumbrance in terms of a listed building and unfettered planning for whatever he might want, regardless of our heritage.

The local authority refused to take action on this and the Department of the Environment refused to intervene, so I and a friend, Eddie O'Doherty, brought the developers to the High Court. I was a Fine Gael councillor at the time and Eddie was just an ordinary guy. When nobody else would, we forced the developers to be accountable to the laws of the land and the court. The action we took resulted in those developers having to pick up every brick and bit of cut stone they knocked that could be preserved for use in the reconstruction of the building. When they refused to obey the order of the court, we went to the court again and got an order for their imprisonment for refusal to obey the order. The planning battle went on, but the result is that today that building stands. It has been rebuilt and is now an important part of a shopping centre, but it retains its original integrity. I tell this story today to show that it was action by community activists that helped us achieve that.

We took on the vested interests in our town and we took on the local authority when it refused to act. We took on the political system which showed no interest in the issue at the time and with the help of conservation groups, An Taisce, the Old Drogheda Society and the Louth Archaeological Society, we made sure the law in question was respected and that the developers paid the fine which was a maximum at the time of £10,000. This maximum amount was subsequently changed to €1 million, as a result of these issues. Never again will a listed building be demolished in the centre of our town and in the manner in which it was. Corruption was at the heart of that issue at the time just as it is at the heart of the Mahon planning tribunal. It is naked greed to make a fast buck and to set aside everything else except the interests of the developers. I acknowledge that Fianna Fáil councillors in Drogheda stood with us in that battle. Unfortunately, one member of the Labour Party did not help us at all. I will not name him but his actions were a disgrace.

As Deputy Joan Collins said, when one takes on the establishment and when one wins a just cause, one must then change the way people think. Fighting corruption at a local level can be very difficult for the ordinary common or garden guy when many powerful and wealthy people who control resources are involved. We did not have two pennies to rub together. When we went to the High Court, our barrister, who took the case pro bono, asked us how much money we had and we replied that we had nothing, only our homes which we put on the line. We took that risk because we were in the right and we were proven right. This tribunal result shows that we can no longer allow corrupt development and corrupt politicians to put our country’s future at risk.

Significant changes have been made since the time of that court case and since the findings of the Moriarty tribunal. The planning system is now better organised and co-ordinated and any planning application must have due and proper regard to local area plans, regional planning and many other considerations. The planning process is now more transparent and accountable. However, more changes are still needed to make the system more accountable. Many of the tribunal's recommendations are important and it is the duty of the Government to implement them.

From my experience as a councillor, there should be more accountability at representational level. so that a planning representation by an elected member should be recorded in the file, and this should include any oral representations to the chief planning officer. As has been shown in the tribunal report, people were pretending to do something while doing the opposite. The public were conned and codded in many cases by the public representatives who have been found wanting in this regard.

Another issue of concern arises when An Bord Pleanála holds an investigation into a planning issue. Oral hearings often last for two or three weeks with lorry loads of consultants speaking for developers against ordinary members of the public. It is often the case that An Bord Pleanála overturns the views of the planning inspector who carries out the oral hearing. In my view, there ought to be a greater barrier preventing An Bord Pleanála overturning the decision of a planning inspector who has heard all the evidence because this can bring the process into disrepute.

In conclusion, the country is changing for the better and this report will help in the creation of better planning, better law and a better future for everybody. I hope to see the end of type of housing estates which were built during the Celtic tiger era, poorly constructed houses for which people paid through the teeth. The infrastructure is appalling and there was not proper oversight by the local authorities in many cases. A significant number of people will be paying for these houses for the rest of their lives. It is a result none of us wanted but it is what we have and we will have to deal with it.

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cheann Comhairle as ucht am a thabhairt dom labhairt ar an ábhar fíor-thábhachtach seo. Agus mé ag labhairt air, táim tromchroíoch mar gheall ar an ábhar uafásach seo atá os ár gcomhair. Chomh maith leis sin gabhaim buíochas leis an Rialtas de bharr an trí lá seo a thabhairt dúinn chun an t-ábhar seo a phlé.

It is important to acknowledge and to thank the Government for the fact that we have had three days' debate on this particularly critical issue. One would hope that out of this debate would come some sense of reassurance for the general public that the circumstances around planning in this country have changed and have changed dramatically.

Before I deal with the specific details of the report, I wish to record my personal anger, disappointment and deep disgust at the findings of the Mahon tribunal report about Fianna Fáil members. I was honoured to be elected as a Fianna Fáil Deputy for Kildare South in 2002 and to be re-elected since. I represent my constituency to the very best of my ability and I will continue to do so as long as I am elected. It was the ordinary people of County Kildare, the decent, honourable citizens, who sent me here, just as they sent my colleague on the opposite side, Deputy Durkan, to represent Kildare North. I would be failing in my responsibilities to the public who elected me and the friends and Fianna Fáil members and family members who supported me if I did not clearly also reflect their disgust and dismay at revelations showing a culture of inappropriate or corrupt behaviour on the part of a small but significant number of party members, some of whom have held high office.

Those who have betrayed the public trust at whatever level within the Fianna Fáil organisation, whether through intentionally corrupt activity or as a result of inadequate ethical standards, have brought shame on our party, shame on their colleagues and have damaged the whole body politic. I acknowledge and appreciate the reasonable points made by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, because he has reflected, as have others such as Deputy Timmins, that while we had a significant problem in our party, what happened should not be taken as a reflection on all members of Fianna Fáil who have served here and on local authorities throughout the country.

It needs to be stated emphatically that the Fianna Fáil members of this Dáil, led by Deputy Micheál Martin, are committed to the highest possible standards in public life. We are honoured to serve here at the discretion of the electorate and we are absolutely determined to ensure the reputation of the vast majority of our predecessors who served here and throughout the country with total honour and integrity is not sullied now by those who would take opportunistic advantage of the Mahon report. We are further committed to organising our own political affairs in such a manner as to ensure that the 20 year-old transgressions identified in this report and the profound conclusion which Mr. Justice Moriarty arrived at in his report with regard to the biggest public contract in the history of the State are never repeated.

I regret the fact that Sinn Féin has been sharp and vociferous in its condemnation of our party. I acknowledge, as others do, that many of the Sinn Féin members are sincere and committed Members of this House and that their intentions are the best. However, their criticism, representing the party that they do, goes beyond the point of hypocrisy when measured against the nefarious activities of some of their members and their fellow travellers.

Fianna Fáil accepts the findings of the Mahon tribunal. In such an extensive report, however, extending to well in excess of 3,000 pages, there may be elements which require clarification or correction. I refer in particular to references on page 2,460 to my colleague and friend, Deputy Seán Fleming. We support the Deputy in his call to the tribunal to rectify the situation in regard to the reference made to him.

Fianna Fáil has more than 65,000 members throughout Ireland, in urban and rural communities. These are decent community activists who have joined our party, seeing it as the vehicle through which they can serve their community and their country. Under our leader, Deputy Mícheál Martin, swift action was taken towards the members who had findings made against them in the report. Up to yesterday, as Members know, six members have resigned their membership of the party. If they had not done so I am confident that the meeting of our national executive, scheduled for tomorrow, would have terminated their membership. The rules and procedures committee of our party will also look at the other members who are in receipt of what has been described as "inappropriate" payments. I understand Fine Gael is doing likewise. Whether people like it or not, our party, along with others, has made a remarkable contribution to democracy in Ireland. Lest there be any doubt, I assure the House we will continue to contribute as long as people give us a mandate. Those who would will us away and see the end of us can go off and dance on somebody else's political grave, in the short term at least.

Commentators tend to forget that even though our worst ever result was in the election last year, more than 400,000 decent people throughout the country voted for Fianna Fáil at that time. We are bruised and battered but we have not, and will not, go away because we have a lot to contribute to public life. Our members and the public have been let down by the actions of a few; we recognise that. I agree with what the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, said last Friday. He noted that the vast majority of people he has met during his long life in politics, whether at national or local level, are honest and hardworking. That has been my experience as well.

In his response to the report the Tánaiste made reference to the fact that he had called for an inquiry in 1990. In that year I believe the Tánaiste was a member of Democratic Left. The Labour Party was in Government with Fianna Fáil between 1992 and 1994 but no planning inquiry was set up and no laws were changed during this period. I wonder if the Tánaiste had a word with his party about this inaction at a time when he was not yet a member.

The report exposed endemic corruption in the political system, primarily including our party but also elements of Fine Gael and the Labour Party. If we are to debate the report and look at it honestly that fact must be acknowledged. Double standards are not acceptable, especially if we are to illustrate to the public how planning issues are totally different now. The time the Mahon report examined must be put into context. It covered a very different time when there was no legislation either in regard to political donations or, more specifically, to the actual planning process. That should not give any consolation to those who were involved in inappropriate and corrupt activity. We should not have to legislate to ensure that people, in particular those who hold public office, behave in a manner that reflects the responsibilities bestowed on them by the public.

I like to think things are vastly different now - rightly so. Let us again be honest and admit that much of the change has been brought about by as a result of 15 different pieces of legislation delivered under Fianna Fáil-led Governments. There is no way corruption can be totally eliminated - as with poverty which will always be with us, there will always be those who will tend towards inappropriate action. We must make every attempt to ensure corruption is stamped out and must root it out when it can be identified. Culturally, people are now very intolerant of procedures not being followed. It is only right that we are open and transparent. That is why the requirements of the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, have rightly made politicians more accountable for any earnings or gifts they receive. Declarations and annual statements are required since Fianna Fáil brought these requirements into legislation in 2001.

The Government stated it considered the Mahon report at Cabinet on Tuesday and that all relevant Ministers will look at the recommendations and revert to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government by the end of April. Fianna Fáil supports the recommendations made about the independent regulator. I presume the Minister, Deputy Hogan, will have his own views on that and will make them known to us as soon as possible. This regulator would be in addition to other legislation already in place and would prevent inappropriate interference.

Although we have never identified any significant corruption within the professional planning system there is much that needs change and amend in how our professional planners do their business. Most of the involvement and representational initiatives taken by people like us - I suspect Deputy Durkan would agree - would not need to be taken if the professional planners were more accessible and more engaged with those people who are in the planning process and who deserve to be able to engage on a professional level.

I sincerely hope the actions resulting from the Mahon report do not take as long to implement as the suggestions, reports and recommendations made in the Moriarty report which was published a year ago. The Taoiseach said at the time that report would not gather dust but it has been doing so for the past year.

It is up to all of us to act responsibly - after all, we are legislators and most of us take that role very seriously. Fianna Fáil will support the legislative proposals that are recommended in the Mahon report. I assure people that the political culture of the 1980s and 1990s is well gone as far as our party is concerned and I welcome its demise.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on this issue although it is not one that can be covered adequately in ten minutes. In particular, those of us who have been members of local authorities have lots of experiences and comparisons to make.

It is a time of sadness for all of us. It is sad when people who are elected to public office find themselves, for one reason or another, in a position in which they succumb to temptation. That is not the way it is supposed to work. I do not want to be sanctimonious, judgmental or condemnatory because that is not the way any human being should be. If somebody falls off the rails for one reason or another and does something wrong, he or she must pay a price. It does not necessarily follow that the rest of society can mount the high pinnacle of moral rectitude and sanctimoniously condemn everybody in sight, claiming this is a symptom of political society and everything is rotten in the state of Denmark etc. I do not accept that notion.

What happened was wrong. It was obvious that investigations, reports and issues that were raised throughout the years should have been investigated by the authorities at the time. Actions taken and suspicions raised should have been followed up, keeping in mind that people have the right to be judged innocent until opinion is formed to the contrary. We live in a world of experts and there is none more so than those involved in planning, regional or spatial strategy, among whom are experts to beat the band. Where we went wrong I do not know but with all the expertise around surely we should have been able to come to some kind of conclusion as to how to proceed.

All my life I have held the view that the first public representatives were people of property, with independent means. They were incapable of being the subject of bribery or corruption because they had independent means. That was at a time when public representatives were not paid at all. That is the way it was. Even on this island people with property had three or four votes, known as the franchise vote. All that has changed with the passage of time and with it should have come some means of ensuring that those people who may be vulnerable or in financial difficulty do not find themselves under pressure and subject to harassment of a financial or verbal nature when making decisions for which they have statutory responsibility. It is a serious decision. I have spoken about this previously. Who knows who sat around a table, making statutory decisions, making up one's mind to do the right thing and not knowing one was sitting beside someone with a different reason for coming to the same conclusion? We are dammed if we do and dammed if we do not. One could vote to achieve what one thought was the correct result and, by virtue of a series of accidents, could be deemed to be corrupt for no other reason than doing what one thought was right.

I agree with my colleague Deputy Sean Ó Fearghaíl. We were both members of the same local authority for a number of years. In so far as we could, we watched each other to make sure someone did not step over the line. It is difficult but that is how it happens. Consensus is dangerous in this situation. As a member of a local authority, I have voted against all my colleagues because I thought I was doing the right thing. In the aftermath, it may have been for the right reasons but at the time one was made to feel one was doing something unpatriotic and something that was not in the national interest even though one thought it was at the time. I have done that and I know Deputy Ó Fearghaíl has done the same. I am not so sure people are equipped to stand on the high moral ground and say that someone did wrong. It is always easy to come to that conclusion with the benefit of hindsight.

I was very disappointed with the contribution of Deputy Gerry Adams, who referred to the foundation of the State. He said politicians in this jurisdiction had let down the people and that, after the foundation of the State, they had turned their backs on the people, grown apart and lost the ideals that originally motivated them. As we all know, the founder of the party Deputy Adams represents was also the founder of my party. There were other issues at the foundation of the State that had a serious negative impact on the country. This includes not going along with the wishes of the majority of the people on issues that were put to the people. It took a very long time for people to recognise that. There is no use in presuming or proclaiming that everyone was corrupt but that cleanliness has now arisen and is here in abundance.

I am so sorry that a major party has fallen by the wayside in the way Fianna Fáil has been punished by the people. I genuinely mean that. It is a salutary lesson for everyone in this House. It may have worked on a number of occasions but it did not work last time. The people summarily punished the party for what they saw being done to the country. I say that with no glee and it will happen again. Those who readily lead people astray and mislead them by pretending that following their philosophy will be better will be visited in the future. There will be disastrous consequences for those who promote those ideologies.

What element of society has not had to undergo a revision in the past 20 years? If there was so-called endemic corruption in politics, where else was it? Right across Europe, there are suspicions about the media. In the adjoining jurisdiction, I heard someone yesterday morning say he could anticipate the result of the tribunal in this country. He could look closer to home because there are a fair few investigations under way. Over the past ten or 15 years we have had revisions in the church, priests, bishops, lawyers, the legal profession, the teaching profession and the public service. Maybe we need a revision and we need to step back and see where we have gone. Now is the time to do it and it should affect everyone.

The people are the ultimate arbiters and the people must examine their consciences. It is easy for me to blame Fianna Fáil, my party's political opponents, but the people approved of what they did over the course of three general elections in 15 years. If there was any doubt about it, those who want to divest themselves of responsibility throughout the community include the Independents on the Opposition benches who signed up to agreements with the previous Government. The question was asked not once but three times. In 1997, 2002 and 2007, when it was clear to all and sundry that the country was flat broke in more ways than one, the people supported the status quo of Fianna Fáil with the Independents. I do not blame Fianna Fáil for that. It is guilty, without doubt, but many other people are also guilty. Those people should ask themselves serious questions.

Sad as this is for the country, it may well be a watershed and a reminder that there should be a small bit of humility. We are not all experts and occasionally mistakes are made. Some people pay for the mistakes and others do not.

Deputy Seán Crowe

I listened to many of the contributions on the outcome of the Mahon report from Deputies in the Chamber, which ranged from annoyance to disgust to outrage. There was broad acceptance of the outcome. I remember the original advertisements in newspapers referring to a solicitor in Newry. People talked about it at the time and it captured people's imagination. They wondered what was going on and whether it was a scam. None of us imagined that this is what would come out. It shone a light on what was going on in this city and throughout the land.

The Mahon report concentrated on matters in the Dublin area. What annoys me is that the practices of Dublin City Council and Dublin County Council were happening in other councils around the country. That is a discussion for another day. If we are to learn from the Mahon report, we must examine mistakes made in the past and the corrupt planning decisions in other local authority areas. Like other Members, I am concerned at the idea of the Minister closing down investigations into those practices in the past.

I live in Tallaght and a former Member used to mention the names of roads in the constituency. I have tried to represent the area as best I can since becoming active in community politics, being elected to the council and then to this House. What strikes me about the discussion after the Mahon report is that some people say they were not aware of what was going on. If people were not aware of the practices that went on leading up to the 2007 election, they must have been living in another universe. Some of the irregularities regarding it were quite clear from media reports and so on.

Many of the people who have come out badly from the Mahon tribunal were rewarded by the electorate at that time. It is clear there was a connection between business and politicians in that regard.

If I was to criticise the Mahon tribunal it would be that there was never any attempt made to bring porters who were working for the then Dublin County Council into the investigation. I do not know the reason for that. I was previously a councillor and if one wanted to know what was going on in the building one asked the porters. If one wants to know what is going on here, they are the people to ask. I thought it was strange that they were not brought into the investigation. I do not know if it was a class thing in that it might have been felt they were at the bottom of the ladder, so to speak, but they were the people running up and down corridors passing messages and so on. It was an omission on the part of the tribunal that it did not look into that.

I live in Tallaght, having lived originally in Rathfarnham. I got married and moved out to Tallaght. I remember Tallaght when it was a village and the changes that came about. I am proud to represent that area but I recognise that there have been many problems in the area. One could probably say the same about the new towns in Blanchardstown, Clondalkin and across the city. Some of those problems are down to bad planning in the past, and perhaps I was part of that bad planning, but I remember when people were transported out of the city into these new suburbs. They were new houses but those people lost their sense of community. There was no work. There was little or no transport yet these things happened. Some people would argue that it was a positive development to take people out of Dickensian housing conditions and move them out to the country but it broke up families and communities. We wonder how those decisions came about.

As part of this debate a number of people went on the attack. Members of Fianna Fáil attacked all around and blamed other parties for what they did but it is clear there is a problem within Fianna Fáil. I come from the position where my grandfather who was a Fianna boy in 1916 and fought the Tans in 1922 ended up joining Fianna Fáil. I did not know the man when I was growing up. I was too young but I have talked to many people who were in Fianna Fáil who do not recognise what it has turned into. Fianna Fáil members can say that is not true but even today many party stalwarts would talk about the way the party ended up. People can say it was because of the Haughey era and that there were other people involved. It was the cute hoorism but it was also the relationship with business, and in that regard I go back to the 2007 election. People said there was no connection in that regard but one only had to go around the north inner city to see that every building site in Dublin had posters connected to a particular party, and it was not mine. There was a clear connection and people made that decision in regard to it.

We must learn from the Mahon tribunal. There was criticism of the length of time it sat, the costs and so on. People can criticise those aspects but the lessons we must learn from this tribunal, the Moriarty tribunal and some of the others is that this cannot be allowed to happen in future. We must be much more transparent in that regard.

I would like to see positive steps being taken by Government arising from the Mahon report. We need to examine decisions that have been made in the past. As an Irish citizen and a TD in this House I am concerned about some of the decisions made regarding offshore oil exploration. There must be a clear investigation in regard to some of the people who have been found to be corrupt by the Mahon tribunal.

From my small involvement in the peace process, I recall concern being expressed about some of the individuals who were central to the negotiations at that time. People say we can be critical when looking back but concerns were raised regarding Ray Burke and whether something would backfire in regard to him. We know that during a critical phase of the discussions leading up to the peace process and eventually to the Good Friday Agreement Ray Burke had to be removed from a central negotiating position representing the Government at that time. That was scandalous. People can rewrite history in terms of their involvement in that process but that was a major mistake made at that time. That person should never have been allowed into that position.

I am proud to represent the area I represent. I am proud to represent Dublin but the changes that have come about were down to wrong decisions being made. In terms of what is right and wrong, the Mahon report talks in terms of corrupt payments but also inappropriate payments. What is corrupt and what is inappropriate? People appeared to have a level they could go to in that it was okay to take €200, €500, €2,000 or €200,000. At what point is a TD or other elected representative culpable in that regard? It is not right to take €10 or €100 if it is offered to try to force someone to change their mind on a decision.

I hope positive changes will come out of the Mahon report and that the recommendations will be taken fully on board by all parties in this House.

Deputy Joe Carey

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Mahon tribunal report. The report confirms so much of what most people believed, namely, that corruption was rampant throughout our political system from the very highest office in the land down. The poor example given and tolerated trickled down the political tree to create a toxic culture of brown bags and shady decisions in our planning system.

The report is detailed and broad. It extends to 3,500 pages and will cost the State €300 million. Many people are rightly concerned about the sheer cost of the tribunal and are asking what actions will now take place to ensure that corrupt practices cannot be repeated.

In that regard I welcome the immediate referral of the report to the Garda Commissioner, the Revenue Commissioners, the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Standards in Public Office Commission. Individuals named as corrupt in this report must be held responsible. The length of time the tribunal sat, all of 15 years, was considerable and we must devise and introduce a system of inquiry which will be more efficient and cost effective.

Our democracy is not necessarily as robust as we would like to think. There is no doubt that as the Mahon tribunal publishes its final report our democracy has been rocked and has become very fragile. If as an Oireachtas we do not act decisively on the conclusions and recommendations of the Mahon report we run the risk of undermining that which we should cherish and on which we should work constructively, namely, a strong, robust democratic system on which we can all pride ourselves.

Everyone in this House has a serious problem to deal with. The constitutional referendum on the powers of inquiry for Oireachtas committees failed last year because quite simply the Irish people do not trust politicians with regard to investigations. The Mahon tribunal report somewhat bears this out as it states:

[Corruption] continued because nobody was prepared to do enough to stop it. This is perhaps inevitable when corruption ceases to become an isolated event and becomes so entrenched that it is transformed into an acknowledged way of doing business. Specifically, because corruption affected every level of Irish political life, those with the power to stop it were frequently implicated in it.

Despite laudable exceptions such as the DIRT inquiry, this perception, as presented by Judge Mahon, was clear in people's minds last October. A member of the DIRT inquiry committee was involved in offshore accounting. A principal character of the Mahon tribunal, now deceased, chaired an Oireachtas committee on ethics. This type of carry-on does not go unnoticed and as such the people were not prepared to allow us in our current state have any further powers of inquiry. It gives a clear and unambiguous indication of how we are viewed and mistrusted. It is our task to rebuild trust in the political system and move swiftly on implementing the recommendations contained in the Mahon tribunal report.

Apart from the conclusions of the report, one of its most depressing aspects is that it was widely known by people throughout the State how widespread corruption in planning was and the practice was tolerated. The journalist, Joe MacAnthony, left Ireland disillusioned in 1973, having exposed elements of planning corruption. Garda investigations went down blind alleyways in 1973, 1989 and 1993.