Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021
600. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will address concerns that a person (details supplied) is now waiting 31 weeks for the resolution of an appeal decision by An Bord Pleanála, in contravention of the compliance target set out in the performance delivery agreement between An Bord Pleanála and his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13888/21]
View answerUnder Section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), the Minister shall not exercise any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or the Board is or may be concerned. While I can address the general matter of An Bord Pleanála's case processing timelines, I cannot comment in relation to this specific case and this matter should be raised directly with An Bord Pleanála.
Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for An Bord Pleanála is Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie.
An Bord Pleanála (the Board) is the national independent statutory body with responsibility for the determination of planning appeals and direct applications for strategic infrastructure and other developments under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and certain other Acts.
Section 126 of the Act provides that it shall be the duty and objective of the Board to decide appeals as expeditiously as may be and, for that purpose, to take all such steps as are open to it to ensure that, insofar as is practicable, there are no avoidable delays at any stage in the determination of appeals.
Section 126 also provides that it shall be an objective of the Board to ensure that every appeal is determined within 18 weeks beginning on the date of receipt of an appeal. Where it is not possible or appropriate, because of the particular circumstances of an appeal, to determine an appeal within the 18 week period the Board is required to notify the participants in the appeal before the expiration of that period giving the reason for not meeting the objective target and specifying a date before which the Board intends to determine the appeal. Where any case has exceeded the statutory objective period then the Board will have written to the parties involved as per these statutory requirements. In circumstances where any new date is not met the Minister understands it is the practice of the Board to also notify the parties of that and the reason for the further delay.
The Board’s 2020 Performance Delivery Agreement with the Department reflects an overall target to determine 65% - 75% of all planning appeal cases within the 18 week statutory objective period and the Minister understands that 76% of all such cases disposed in 2020 were concluded within this 18 week target.
It is acknowledged that a certain percentage of cases, due to particular circumstances, such as complexity, requests for further information from applicants for permission or further submissions from other participants including third parties, will not meet the 18 week target.
My Department has worked closely with the Board over the last few years on a range of measures aimed at increasing its compliance rate with the statutory objective period, including the appointment of Board members and the provision of additional staff resources. I am satisfied with the impact these measures appear to be having.
My Department will continue to liaise closely with the Board to ensure that it has appropriate resources to maintain and improve its compliance rate, in line with its annual Performance Delivery Agreement targets.
