Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 March 2023
148. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number and percentage of An Bord Pleanála cases that are currently undetermined despite having been with the board for more than six, nine and 12 months, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15802/23]
View answerAn 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.
Under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, as amended, the Minister is specifically precluded from exercising power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála is or may be concerned.
Section 126 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, 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.
It is important to acknowledge that a certain percentage of cases, due to particular circumstance 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.
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 be of assistance to the Deputy, my Department sought the information requested from the Board, who provided the following information for all cases on hand at 27 March 2023:
Number of overall ABP cases awaiting decision at 27 March 2023
|
Length of time awaiting decision |
No. of cases |
% |
|
Less than 6 months |
1,161 |
40% |
|
6 months to 9 months |
561 |
19% |
|
9 months to 12 months |
538 |
19% |
|
Over 12 months |
636 |
22% |
|
Total |
2,896 |
100% |
