Written Answers. - Staff Shortages.
Liz McManus
Ceist:
50
Ms McManus
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
the steps being taken to address staff shortages in An Bord Pleanála and planning departments of local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[10151/01]
My Department has written to planning authorities on a number of occasions asking that they consider the adequacy of their staffing to ensure that the planning systems do not cause bottlenecks in meeting demand and delivers the best possible service to the customer. While my Department has approved requests from planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála for sanction for additional professional planner posts, I am aware that some authorities have experienced difficulties in recruiting people to fill these additional posts.
The most recent survey by my Department of the larger local authority planning departments, that is county councils and county borough corporations, carried out on 31 January 2001 found that the overall number of serving staff, both administrative and professional, had increased to 1,090, which compared favourably with a figure of 1,066 in October 2000, 994 in July 2000 and 895 in September 1999.
In relation to professional planners specifically, the January survey found that there was a total of 394 authorised posts for professional planners, 66 of which were vacant at that time. This means that the total number of serving professional planners was 328. This compares positively with the results of the October 2000 survey which reported 301 serving professional planners in the local authorities.
In relation to An Bord Pleanála, in July 2000 I approved an increase of 29 additional staff, nine professional planners and 20 administrative staff, which brought An Bord Pleanála's authorised staff complement to 134, excluding board members. Recruitment of these additional staff is ongoing. I am also aware of plans by the board to engage private planning consultants to assist in dealing with the large number of appeals on hand.
In June 2000 I made the Local Government (Planning and Development) Regulations, 2000, which increased the size of exempted domestic extensions from 23 mf7>2 to 40 mf7>2. This was designed to remove about 30% of planning applications for such extensions from the planning system in major urban areas and to allow planners to concentrate on more complex applications and forward planning issues.
I have been in contact with my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, and the third level education sector with a view to identifying ways of producing more planners through the education system. As a result, from September 2000 new and expanded courses in University College Dublin and Dublin Institute of Technology Bolton Street will treble the output of graduate planners in two years time to approximately 75 planners graduating per annum.
In the interim, to meet the short-term demand, the employment of planners from abroad on fixed term contracts is being pursued. In this regard my Department, along with a number of local authorities and An Bord Pleanála, has participated in the FÁS Jobs Ireland campaign and other recruitment initiatives over the past few months to source professional planners on a contract basis. As a result of this 27 qualified planners have been placed on a panel from which planning positions in the local authorities and An Bord Pleanála can be filled on a contract basis. The Local Government Management Services Board is now managing this process and extending it to target other construction professionals such as engineers, architects and quantity surveyors.
