You will have to be the judge of that. Unfortunately there are not too many members of the committee here to judge it.
We are coming from a completely different standpoint, as I am not a paid official but a member of a voluntary organisation that is non-political. This presentation is with acknowledgement to the memory of Martin Luther King, which is something that will become clear in a moment.
An Irish citizen wishing to build a house for his family in a rural area in a certain county, which we shall call county X, located a site that suited his purpose. He wrote to the planning authorities seeking a pre-planning meeting. That night he had a dream in which he saw in exact detail a letter he was going to receive from the county manager. The dream letter went as follows:
"Dear sir or madam, I welcome your decision to build your home in our county. This county in common with most counties in Ireland has a proud tradition of vibrant community life going back thousands of years. The council are anxious that new households will continue to establish themselves in our townlands to counteract loss of population due to the decline of farming and other factors. There is no ban or bias against houses in the open countryside in this county and the planning department will assist you in every way to ensure, if at all possible, that your desire to rear your family in the place of your choice can become a reality. The council has statutory obligations regarding health and safety issues and other factors relating to the common good, but, that said, I assure you that in striking a balance all your constitutional rights, as well as the importance of rural community life, will get due respect and fair treatment. In that context, every planning application for a rural house goes before a special proofing committee composed of elected members and relevant officials where it is assessed against the rural proofing guidelines set out in the Government's White Paper on rural development. This local authority honours its obligations to comply with Government policy.
On water pollution, the council accepts that an engineering solution is possible for waste water treatment on all sites provided EPA guidelines are adhered to. The council also respects the EPA guidelines that the most appropriate and cost effective method of waste water treatment is the conventional septic tank and percolation properly installed and maintained on a suitable site. We will not insist on the installation of expensive high-tech and high energy consuming septic tanks unless reports by qualified experts show that the lower cost waste water treatment is not appropriate on your site. Subjective judgments on waste water treatment by planners not having professional qualifications in civil engineering or other relevant qualifications, are not allowed by this council. You will not be refused on the septic tank issue. This council also puts serious constraints on the subjective opinions of its planners in respect of house design details such as windows, dormers, roofs, garages, landscaping etc, which it recognises as rightfully belonging to the taxpayers wishing to build their dream home. Planners will guide and advise on fundamental issues such as building regulations, the common good and health and safety, but all their guidance will be supported by written reports from professionally qualified people.
The council does not tolerate inconsistencies and injustices in planning decisions resulting from the subjective opinions of individual planners. On the necessity to preserve our cultural heritage, the council has a responsibility to show regard for the traditional Irish dispersed village settlement pattern, unique in Europe. In this context, it has no difficulty in allowing houses to be built so long as they are sited sensitively in the landscape. The council accepts that a living landscape requires presence of life, both human and animal and that it would be failing in its responsibilities if its planning policies contributed to the creation of depopulated rural deserts as has happened in many European countries.
Irrespective of country of origin, a welcome is extended. The council does not enforce a locals only rule, occupancy clause, or place restrictions such as land sterilisation which it believes are unconstitutional. In the unfortunate event of a refusal of planning permission on the selected site, the council undertakes to discuss housing requirements with the applicant, sparing no difficulty to find a solution.
The council welcomes the belated arrival of the industrial revolution, in the form of the Celtic tiger, to Ireland and the opportunities thus created in the country. The council supports the energy and enterprise of the present generation of workers and applauds their determination to invest in creating new housing stock of the county in a way never before possible. Their energy and commitment will guarantee security and shelter for their own children as well as a high quality housing stock for future generations. No individual will be forced out of this county because of planning.
This hypothetical letter is signed by Mr. Joseph Bloggs, county manager.
Our citizen woke up in the morning and his dream turned into a nightmare. This same nightmare is experienced by thousands of people seeking permission to build in counties across Ireland. I will not delay the committee with further anecdotal evidence because, as elected representatives, members of the committee are already fully aware of these matters.
On the formation of the IRDA, I ask the committee to consider what the country has come to when considerable numbers of mature people felt it necessary to form a united front to take on the planning regime. Our motivation is simply the love of our country, its people and culture.
The IRDA was launched only 18 months ago and now has more than 1,000 paid up members from Malin Head to Cahirciveen and is growing daily. We have attended many public meetings on planning around the country and believe that we reflect the feelings of ordinary taxpayers accurately. In this presentation, we are discussing rural housing only.
People have lost all respect for our planning system, including An Bord Pleanála. An Taisce, which used to be highly respected, has become a despised organisation with policies on rural housing utterly rejected by rural communities. It does itself no justice by lodging incorrect serial objections, or by constantly attacking rural society in the media with biased misleading and false objections on vital matters such as housing statistics, water pollution, sustainability and the high price the country supposedly has to pay to subsidise rural communities.
It is abetted by the environmental editor of The Irish Times, who lashes out at rural communities from his lofty perch in Temple Bar and praises himself endlessly at conferences for his invention of the phrase "bungalow blitz". This ignorant description of the housing types of thousands of ordinary people, together with attacks by officers of An Taisce on politicians and Government Ministers on television, has done much to unite rural dwellers and make them more determined to fight for justice in planning.
It is a sad day for democracy when citizens lose all respect for institutions of the State, such as the planning authorities and for State supported organisations with statutory roles, such as An Taisce. In a democracy, no institution can continue indefinitely without the respect of the people. There are many examples illustrating the truth of this from recent social history that should make legislators pay heed.
The IRDA has shown that the drive to urbanise Irish society comes from the influence on our planning regime by UK planning philosophies. This was clearly outlined at the IRDA conference in Cahirciveen by the senior lecturer and his colleague at the School of Environmental Planning, Queens University. Many Irish students got their qualifications in England. Of the 29 planning schools there, only four offer any courses in rural planning and this reflects the fact that England as a society is 90% urbanised. In Dublin University, the master's degree in planning is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute of London. This course offered no rural planning until recently.
The Royal Town Planning Institute of London has established an Irish Policy Panel in Ireland to influence rural planning. They published a discussion paper in 2002. In addition to the large number of members of the Royal Town Planning Institute working in local authorities across Ireland, there has been an influx of planners from other countries, including 25 from South Africa. They were attracted here by high wages. None of these non-national planners are obliged to do any course whatsoever in Irish history or heritage.
The chairman of An Bord Pleanála, Mr. John O'Connor, reported in their annual report for 2001, that the majority of the 50 planners taken on to cope with the extra workload were UK based. In addition, they farm out groups of appeals on a tender basis to professional planners. Planners from outside of this State can bid for this work.
In Cahiciveen a month ago, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív stated:
We are a unique people and an ancient race with long established traditions and settlement patterns. Why should we be forced to live by imported models, designed to suit people who live in different countries with totally different cultures.
In fact, we are forced to live by these imported models.
There are other issues such as constitutional rights and natural justice that may come up later but I will conclude with a few general observations. I wonder how we can make enormous contributions to the outside world in many areas such as literature, music, art, sport, technology and so on but lack the confidence to support our cultural heritage and allow ourselves to be swayed by every passing opinion, however shallow, from outside these shores. I ask why we are the only country in Europe, if not the world, which allows third party objections to houses in rural Ireland from every Tom, Dick and Harry regardless of where they live. These objectors can take a case to An Bord Pleanála and win. I ask why we treat this present generation, who are creating the wealth of the country, as if they were a sub species abusing their citizenship when they dare to apply to build a home. Ireland is the most underpopulated country in Europe with by far the lowest housing density. Why do we accept the view that there is an acceptable level of refusals from planning authorities? Each refusal for a permanent home is not alone a personal tragedy for some family but is a serious attack on their constitutional rights as Irish citizens.
There is the argument that planning policy should be left to experts rather than elected councillors. A councillor at our Cahirciveen conference stated that a senior planning official told his county council that planning should be taken out of their hands completely because they know nothing about it. It is worth remembering that all elected representatives are expert at one thing that others are not; they are expert at getting elected. As they are elected they have a mandate to develop policy and ensure that it is implemented. Democracy hinges on the principle that one has to be elected to govern. The day that right is handed over to experts in any field, democracy is dead. There is no doubt that democracy is flawed, as our various tribunals have shown. It is only because we have a democracy that we can apply the checks and balances to bring it back into line. Speaking in this company I can do no better than to echo the words of Thomas Jefferson. When he argued against the divine right of royalty to rule over the people, he asked the question, if the people are not fit to rule themselves then who is?