Vol. 473 No. 4
36 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for the Environment his views on the recently published report of the Irish Planning Institute confirming that the local authorities planning service is chronically understaffed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1530/97]
The allocation of staff to the various local authority service areas and the creation of additional posts, where considered necessary, taking account of local needs and priorities, is a matter for the local authorities concerned. Following a major relaxation of controls in the staffing area, which I introduced in March of last year, local authorities are generally free, within broad parameters, to decide their own staffing levels. In these circumstances, I do not propose to comment on the report published by the Irish Planning Institute which makes a case for the employment of greater numbers of planners by individual authorities.
