Ulick Burke
Question:129 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will consider the establishment of planning regional appeals boards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30134/01]
Written Answers. - Planning Appeals Board.
An Bord Pleanála is a statutory independent body established to determine planning appeals and certain other matters. The board is required to keep itself informed of policies and objectives of a number of bodies, including planning authorities, and in reaching decisions on planning appeals it must also have regard to the provisions of the relevant local authority development plan. I am satisfied these provisions are adequate to ensure that local policies are fully considered by the board and I have no proposals to establish regional appeals boards.
My Department and the board have been addressing, on an ongoing basis, a range of measures to enable the board to process appeals more expeditiously in the context of the backlog of appeals and the functions transferred to the board in accordance with the provisions of the Planning and Development Act, 2000. I have approved significant additional staffing and financial resources for the board. It recently engaged 47 additional planners to work on a fee per case basis. It has also engaged seven private planning consultancy firms to report on 600 cases over a 12 month period. In addition, last week I appointed three new members to the board. This means the number of board members will increase to 12 from the beginning of 2002. It is anticipated that all these measures will enable the board to eliminate the backlog of appeal cases by mid 2002.