Skip to main content
Normal View

Planning Issues

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 November 2018

Wednesday, 14 November 2018

Questions (64)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

64. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to set out the status of An Bord Pleanála’s adherence to statutory timeframes for planning decisions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47097/18]

View answer

Oral answers (6 contributions)

The rate of completion within the legal timeframe in An Bord Pleanála has dropped from 79% to 64% between 2016 and 2017. In that period we have seen an 11% reduction in staff. Average completion time of applications has moved from 15 weeks to 17 weeks. In that context, will the Minister set out the status of An Bord Pleanála's adherence to statutory timeframes for planning decisions? Will the Minister provide an update on any additional resourcing for the board to meet the additional activities and demands it?

Under section 126 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 An Bord Pleanála has a statutory objective to determine planning appeals within 18 weeks. Where the board does not consider it possible or appropriate to reach a decision within 18 weeks, for example, because of the particular complexities of a case or the requirement to hold an oral hearing, it will inform the parties of the reasons for this and will indicate when it intends to make its decision.

It is acknowledged that there has been a reduction in the board's compliance rate with the statutory objective period during the past year due to a number of factors, including a significant increase in the number of cases it has received. At the end of October of this year, the compliance rate for normal planning appeals stood at 38% while the rate stood at 43.5% for all planning cases. A range of measures have been taken to address this, including the appointment of additional board members. I am satisfied, taking account of the increased Exchequer grant of €18.5 million for the board in 2019, which represents a 7% increase on this year, that the measures involved will enable the board to significantly improve its compliance rate. The number of cases decided by the board in the ten months to end October 2018 was up 26% on the corresponding period in 2017 and the board's output is now approximately 250 cases per month.

It is important to note that for large housing developments new streamlined arrangements have been introduced to enable planning applications for strategic housing developments to be made directly to the board. At the end of September of this year, a total of 39 such applications had been made and the board had issued decisions in 29 cases, all of which were made within the prescribed 16-week timeframe, thus delivering a 100% compliance rate in these cases. In addition, planning appeals in respect of housing developments of 30 units or more are prioritised.

The board currently has a complement of 11 members, including a new chairperson, who took up duty on 30 October 2018, and an additional board member, who was engaged in June 2018, in addition to the normal complement of ten members. The board also employs more than 150 staff, including the ten additional dedicated staff engaged in 2017 to support the strategic housing division, which has a 100% compliance rate. My Department will continue to liaise closely with the board to ensure it has appropriate resources to support it in the performance of its functions.

I imagine we all agree that the compliance rates of 38% and 43.5% are particularly low and fall far below what is required. I welcome the additional resources allocated to the board, but the figures would be even lower if the requests for additional or further information in some way masked the figures of completion. Anecdotal evidence from throughout the country is that large schemes have been 18 months and longer with An Bord Pleanála while going through a series of requests for additional information. In some instances, that is perfectly correct but we have seen an increase in requests for further information. When does the Minister believe that we will be able to get back within the targets? Does the Minister have a target date to get back within the statutory timeframe for planning decisions? The Minister mentioned the 39 large housing developments that have been submitted directly to the board. He will be aware of the volume of work that goes into pre-planning for these applications and the discussions with the board in advance of the applications being lodged. Are we looking for An Bord Pleanála to do too much without sufficient resources? The figures certainly bear that out.

The fast-track planning process is an important response that we have made to the current shortage. The board has, within its statutory timeline and within the 100% compliance rate to which I referred, approved 5,400 homes and 4,400 student spaces. Currently, a further 3,000 homes are in hand for decision. The board will do that work within the timelines that have been given.

A new chairperson has been appointed to the board. He has come from the Department and is fully aware of the challenges we face in planning in general because he was involved in Project Ireland 2040 and more specifically in housing because of the work he has done in that area.

An additional board member was appointed this year to help deal with the specific difficulties that we face in housing. Currently, I am considering appointing another board member. Another change I am considering involves reducing the quorum necessary for decisions to be made on smaller cases. We do not need to have the same number of members adjudicating on smaller cases compared to larger cases, which could involve a significant number of homes. Having said that, if an application involves more than 30 homes, it will get special attention anyway.

I referred to the dedicated unit of ten people. The unit is working with two board members and is producing results when it comes to housing. Of course, I have responsibility for more than housing and, therefore, I am working with the new chairperson and the board to drive up compliance rates generally across the board.

Reducing the quorum for smaller cases and setting a lower threshold are sensible suggestions and would represent good use of resources and smarter working. Has the board or the new chairperson set a target completion rate within the statutory timeframe for 2019? While the Minister's response suggests there appears to have been some recent improvement, we need to see vast improvement and delivery. Has the board or the chairperson set a revised completion rate within the statutory timeframe for 2019?

Hundreds of additional cases have been submitted this year compared to the previous year or the year before that. This reflects what is happening in the wider economy. As a result, hundreds more cases are being decided every month than in previous periods. I welcome the support of the Deputy for some of the changes I am considering to help the board better manage its resources.

The new chairperson took up his position 14 days ago, although he has been working with An Bord Pleanála for several years on account of his role in the Department. He has an idea of exactly what he wants to do. He is independent of the Department and the board is independent of me. No doubt, he has taken up the task. I have spoken to him informally since his appointment but in my first official engagement with him as chairperson of the board, we will discuss these issues.

Top
Share