Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 May 2023
366. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide a detailed explanation on how An Bord Pleanála is prioritising its backlog of planning permissions awaiting decision. [21715/23]
View answer368. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in respect of the backlog of planning permissions decisions at An Bord Pleanála, the priority, if any, being given to strategic housing development applications. [21717/23]
View answer369. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in respect of the backlog of planning permissions decisions at An Bord Pleanála, the priority, if any, being given to applications based on their geographical profile. [21718/23]
View answer370. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in respect of the backlog of planning permissions decisions at An Bord Pleanála, the priority, if any, being given to applications based on time since initial lodgement. [21719/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 366 and 368 to 370, inclusive, together.
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 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, may 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 advised that; there are a number of different types of case before the Board for determination. The Board will be applying different prioritisation to those cases and will therefore not deal with cases in chronological order. The Board has decided that this is the best way to manage its caseload and backlog in the most effective way possible.
Under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, as amended, as Minister I am 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.
