Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 April 2023
306. Deputy Charles Flanagan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will detail the steps his Department has taken or will take to identify the resourcing needs of An Bord Pleanála; the future constitution of an Coimisiún Pleanála; local and regional planning bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18964/23]
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 (the Act), as amended, and certain other Acts.
The Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Act 2022, which was signed into law in December 2022, addressed certain initial matters which required immediate action on foot of the Action Plan for An Bord Pleanála, Phase 1 of the Office of the Planning Regulator Review of An Bord Pleanála, and other matters relating to addressing board vacancies and the Board’s case load in light of its new marine functions, including:
• Providing for a suitable, independent, objective and transparent procedure by which recommendations may be made to the Minister in relation to the recruitment and appointment of ordinary members of the Board through an open competitive process,
• Increasing the limit on the maximum number of members of the Board from 10 to 15, so as to ensure that the increasing caseload can be managed, and the appropriate quorums and suitable allocation of case files can be assured, and
• Expanding the provision to appoint temporary ordinary board members to allow for the appointment of serving or former civil servants, public servants, or employees of the Board for a term of up to a year.
Arrangements are being put in place for the new Board member appointment process, and in the interim temporary board members are being assigned. Since early January I have appointed five temporary ordinary board members to the Board of An Bord Pleanála. On 14 April 2023 I signed orders to appoint a further five temporary appointments to the Board of An Bord Pleanála, all of whom have now taken up their positions.
In addition, a full term Board appointment (five years) has been made following a recent competition managed by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) to recruit an ordinary board member with marine and environment experience. These six latest board members will bring the total number of Board members to 15, the maximum now provided for under the legislation and the greatest number of serving Board members ever.
In November 2022, following an updated assessment by the Board of resourcing issues likely to emerge as a result of planning applications for the National Development Plan and other infrastructure projects, the Board's new marine functions, as well as a number of senior positions approved under the Action Plan for An Bord Pleanála, and in accordance with the An Bord Pleanála 2022-2023 Workforce Plan, the Board sought sanction for 34 additional posts. My Department provided sanction for these additional 34 posts in December 2022 and An Bord Pleanála is in the process of filling these positions.
On 27 March 2023, An Bord Pleanála sought approval from my Department for a total of 59 new posts under Phase 2 of the An Bord Pleanála Workforce Plan 2022-2023 and the Maritime Area Planning (MAP) resource plan. My Department approved this Phase 2 plan on 4 April 2023 and awaits the submission of sanction requests from the Board in respect of the individual posts.
The Board have received an exchequer allocation of €26.9 million for 2023, which is an increase of €4.7million on the 2022 allocation.
The draft Planning and Development Bill 2022 outlines the proposed new structure for An Bord Pleanála, which will be renamed as An Coimisiún Pleanála. The draft Bill contains a number of provisions reflecting this new organisational structure and will clearly outline the role of –
• Planning Commissioners – who will be responsible for all decision making regarding consents and applications made to it under the new Bill.
• The Governing Body - which will be responsible for the governance and organisation of the body. There will be a Chief Executive responsible for the strategic management of the organisation.
Finally, with regard to resourcing of planning authorities, under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of overall local government sector employment levels.
