In an interview in the Sunday Independent, Fine Gael TD Noel Rock said that one high-profile party Fine Gael colleague remonstrated with him about his publicity around not taking the recent pay rise for TDs. Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis said today that Noel Rock should name that politician.

The Dublin North West TD, who shares a constituency with Deputy Rock, said:

“Deputy Rock should name that politician that took issue with refusing the pay rise as it is important that the public know the personal stance TDs are taking on this issue, especially as Sinn Féin have published a motion that will call on the government to stop pay increases due under the Lansdowne Road Agreement and will be debated in the coming weeks.

“In regards to rest of the article and Deputy Rock’s comments about Ballymun, Sinn Féin have being on the ground in Ballymun for years and, as any local knows, that the area has a strong community ethos in the old towers and in the surrounding estates. There was always great sports and cultural groups and clubs in Ballymun and they how have great facilities.

“Of course, there were social issues concerning drugs and other anti-social behaviour but maybe Noel should look to his own party for the causes to this as they abandoned that very community, and so many others like it, years ago by not investing in proper social, economic, and transport infrastructure. It is irresponsible that he should attempt to define a community by a few bad apples.”

Speaking on the Planning and Development Bill which was meant to make law the recommendations of the Mahon tribunal, Sinn Féin Deputy Dessie Ellis outlined that one of its key recommendations the establishment of an independent office of a planning regulator is not being fully address in this Bill.

The Dublin North West TD said:

“The Mahon Tribunal found out that big business and those who held high political office conspired to corrupt the planning process; that these individuals used their positions of influence within some political parties to line their own pockets with corrupt payments by corrupt developers at the expense of the very communities and citizens they were elected to represent.  The effect is that some estates are living in floodplains as a result of land rezoning decisions made by local councillors at the behest of landowners or property speculators.

“While sizeable populations in this city have to get into their cars to travel to a shopping centre because the one that was planned nearer wasn’t built or those nearer to established communities weren’t facilitated, against planning advice. There was over zoning of lands, a lot of it in the wrong place and absolutely no consideration to any long-term strategy or supported by the required services. There are people dealing with these decisions every day of their lives to this day.

“Minister Simon Coveney can overrule the regulator; what’s the point of it so? It doesn’t go far enough. If the proposed office of planning regulator does not have teeth or real powers, it will not be effective. And we are potentially back to those days where the corrupt and the financially astute decided how we lived in our country.”