Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised)
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
Sure, but that is the reason why, Deputy. I take his point regarding the delays.
The delay the Deputy has referred to in his constituency sounds extraordinarily long. That is the reason we have made the additional resources available to An Bord Pleanála. The number of staff it has is being increased considerably. It did so last year and it will do so again this year. It is also the reason we have appointed more judges and why there is now a separate part of our judicial system that deals with planning and environmental matters. We have done so because of the issue the Deputy referred to, which is projects being objected to. The community or an individual have the right to object. The issue then becomes the amount of time taken in the vindication of that right and the impact that has on the delivery of projects. I know that will not make the past better and I accept that the point is a serious one, but I am confident that over the next year we will continue to see the impact of the decisions we have made, in particular with An Bord Pleanála.
No comments