Vol. 500 No. 1
233 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the average time it takes to obtain planning permission for residential development; the attempts, if any, being made to shorten this time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3305/99]
A decision on a planning application must be made by a planning authority within two months, unless the planning authority requests further information or extends the two month period with the written consent of the applicant. Comprehensive statistics on the operation of the planning system are published annually by my Department and are available in the Oireachtas Library. Planning statistics for 1997 show that local authorities dealt with approximately 70 per cent of all planning applications within two months. While the statistics set out the aggregate number of planning applications approved or refused in each local authority area, they do not disaggregate approvals or refusals as between residential and other applications.
In April 1998, my Department wrote to planning authorities asking that they avail of the opportunity presented by planning fee increases, which were effected by new regulations at that time, to consider the possibility if employing more professional planners, either on a contract basis or by redeployment within existing authorised staff levels. It was suggested that the costs involved would be offset, at least partly, by the increase in fee income and that the increased financial resources under the new system of local government finance would also enable local authorities to devote increased resources to planning development and control. My Department wrote to local authority managers in July 1998 asking that they consider the adequacy of their professional/technical and administrative/clerical staffing in order to ensure that the planning system does not cause bottlenecks in meeting demand and delivers the best possible service to the customer.
