Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2023
373. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will advise on the current backlog of cases with An Bord Pleanála; the average timeline for completion on decisions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32652/23]
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.
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.
The total number of Board members serving in An Bord Pleanála is now 15, the maximum now provided for under the legislation and the greatest number of serving Board members ever. The Board has advised that it will take a period of time for the impact of new temporary Board Members to be evident in addressing the backlog of cases on hand.
An Bord Pleanála has also received increased resourcing of staff with over 300 posts agreed by my Department. This is an increase in the overall agreed staffing levels of the Board in excess of 50% since 2021. With this significant increase in resourcing, in conjunction with the maximum number of Board Members appointed, the Board has advised that it is working to address the backlog of cases that are currently awaiting a decision as quickly as possible.
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, my Department sought the information requested from the Board, who advised that an updated statement on the matter can be found on the Board's website via the following link: www.pleanala.ie/en-IE/BacklogInformation.
