Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
693. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated cost of trebling the existing number of staff on each grade currently employed in An Bord Pleanála’s marine and climate unit. [40632/22]
View answerAn Bord Pleanála’s Workforce Plan for 2021-2022 was approved by my Department in October 2021 and provided for 24 additional posts. This included an initial 8 staff for a new Marine/Climate Unit. Sanction was subsequently sought by An Bord Pleanála to fill 5 of these 8 Marine/Climate Unit positions, which my department provided. The status of these 5 positions is detailed in the table below.
|
Administrative Assistant x1 |
1 Appointed |
|
Senior Planning Inspector (or equivalent) x 2 |
2 Appointed |
|
Executive Officer x1 |
Competition ongoing - 1 Appointment expected in August 2022. |
|
Assistant Director of Planning x1 |
Vacant |
It should be noted that 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 in this regard is Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie.
In order to assist the Deputy, my Department obtained the information requested by the Deputy from An Bord Pleanála. Based on the Personal Pension Contribution (PPC) rate of €25,339 for an Administrative Assistant and €77,176 for a Senior Planning Inspector, the approximate cost of the three staff currently employed in An Bord Pleanála’s Marine and Climate Unit is €179,691 per annum. An Bord Pleanála calculated that trebling the number of staff currently employed in this unit would increase costs to approximately €539,073 per annum.
A staff resourcing plan for projects associated with the Maritime Area Planning Act, 2021 was received from An Bord Pleanála on 20 June 2022. This Plan identifies extra posts in addition to the initial Marine/Climate Unit posts already approved. My Department is currently engaging with An Bord Pleanála in relation to this Maritime Resourcing Plan.
