Shortage of staff has left the planning system "wide open" to the conflicts of interest highlighted in Co Roscommon, the Labour Party's spokesman on the environment has said.
Mr Eamon Gilmore described as "critical" the lack of professional planners throughout the State, which had left local authorities with 100 approved but unfilled vacancies.
"The planning system, which is now dealing with double the volume of applications of 1995, is functioning with about half the number of planners required. "Planners are leaving local authorities for better-paid employment in the private sector, and the problem is compounded by the decision of the Minister for the Environment to suppress the position of county planner in the larger authorities," Deputy Gilmore said.
To cope with the volume of work, some local authorities were now using non-planning staff to assess applications and were also engaging planning consultants. Even An Bord Pleanala had decided to hire private consultants to examine planning appeals, he said.
"The potential for conflict of interest in all this is enormous."
The suspension of staff by Roscommon County Council had rightly focused attention on the dangers to the whole planning process, which was open "to a repeat of the corruption now under investigation by the Flood tribunal," he said. He also called on the Minister to introduce proposals immediately to increase staffing, reinstate the position of county planner and "restore public confidence in the efficiency and professionalism of the planning process".
Meanwhile, a Green Party councillor in Co Wicklow has said she will seek an early meeting with Mr Eddie Sheehy - the former Roscommon county manager who took over the same role in Wicklow yesterday - to discuss her concerns about planning in the county.
Ms Deirdre De Burca said planning was "a controversial issue everywhere", but was especially so in Wicklow, where "the only consistent thing about decisions is the inconsistency".
She cited complaints from people who had been refused planning permission only to see others make successful applications for very similar structures on the same or adjacent sites: "People are very aggrieved when that happens and it's the sort of thing that gives them the impression there might be something irregular going on."
But she also blamed a "hardline" attitude towards the building of new houses, which in many cases discriminated even against local people.
As the suspension of staff in Roscommon continued to reverberate yesterday, the Waterford county manager said planning officials in his area were frequently reminded of their responsibilities and the practice of doing "nixers" was not widespread.
Mr Donal Connolly said the "vast majority" of officials "would not be engaged in any activities which would be in conflict with their duties or with their obligations". He added, however, there had been a number of complaints "over years" to Waterford County Council.
"These would have been investigated, officers would have been informed of their responsibilities and the necessary procedures would have been put in place in the planning section to try to ensure that officers don't submit applications on behalf of clients," he told the Waterford radio station, WLR.
Asked who investigated complaints of this type, he said: "Basically, as in all matters in the local authority, the buck stops with the county manager. . . if he's satisfied that some irregularities are arising, he has to take action."
The vast majority of appeals made to An Bord Pleanala result in the decision of the local authority being upheld, he added. "I think that copperfastens what I'm saying, that the vast majority of planning applications are made fairly and based on proper planning evaluations."
Asked to comment further on the complaints made to Waterford County Council, Mr Connolly told The Irish Times the integrity of the planning system was sound and there was an ongoing review of procedures.