Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

By the way, requiring by law a period for a decision to be made by An Bord Pleanála is not as straightforward as the committee might think. It has a quasi-judicial function in making judgments. It is true that it is a planning authority, but it is also an appeals body. My understanding is it is not straightforward to simply require it to make a decision, particularly if there are other issues in cases with which it has to deal. We will instead probably look at having an agreement with it on setting and meeting targets, as opposed to legislating, like we do for local authorities which have to make a decision within eight weeks or else planning permission is given by default. I do not think we can do that in the case of An Bord Pleanála, but we can do something to try to ensure we have decisions made within 18 weeks, where possible.