Planning report - What words really mean

It might require a leap of faith to accept that the findings of the Department of the Environment review of the planning systems at seven local authorities found no evidence of corruption or criminality, but if you consider how we use words it may be easier.

In the flexible, Irish sense, the idea of councillors over-ruling the professional expertise represented by council staff by invoking Section 4 derogations fordevelopments considered inappropriate would not be defined as corrupt but rather democracy in action.

Most of those stuck in ghost estates, stuck in houses flooded more or less every year because they are built on flood plains, or those trying to sustain a town-centre business despite the impact of out-of-town shopping centres might beg to differ. So too might a local authority — Cork County Council — that was forced to fund a €10m flood prevention plan because flood plains outside Bandon were drained for housing.

Corruption is not just about brown envelopes. As often as not it is about not doing the right thing. That is especially so when you are given a mandate by a community to represent its best interests.