Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In all the engagements my staff and I have had with An Bord Pleanála, the response has always been incredibly professional and quick. I acknowledge that and thank its staff. Sometimes given the An Bord Pleanála web difficulties, which I will come to in a minute, it is often hard to find information, but when we follow up with phone calls we always get the information very quickly. I ask Mr. Walsh to pass that on to the staff.

I will make two comments and then ask some specific questions. I share Deputy Casey's view. Not only would I have a strict statutory limit, but I would have a shorter statutory limit for the majority of cases. From my understanding of the majority of cases, not those outliers or exceptionally long ones, An Bord Pleanála is reviewing substantive assessments that have already been made. Having a statutory limit is not a decision for An Bord Pleanála and I accept its position. I presume it is a resources issue. Local authorities can do it in eight weeks because approximately 30 of them are processing all those applications. This is a matter we can raise with the Government at some other stage. We need to get to a point where those timelines are much more fixed and streamlined for the average cases.

I also comment on the political debate that has started. These are not questions the witnesses can answer but it is important to point out I have a different view from the other members who have spoken so far. Third party opinions are an important part of our planning process. I say opinions and not objections because many of the opinions submitted are not objections. They are suggested improvements, amendments etc. and they are valid.

There is considerable hypocrisy in the political process. I will not name any politician or any case. I regularly see politicians submit objections to developments not on planning grounds but purely for electoral reasons. However, I think the Minister is wrong; most of those opinions have no impact on planning decisions nor should they. I have seen planning submissions from politicians that make no planning points whatsoever. The politician knows it will have no negative impact, but wants to be seen to be opposing something for electoral reasons.

On one occasion politicians who wanted the development to proceed deliberately submitted objections opposing it, knowing full well it would have no material impact. I do not ask the witnesses to comment on that. I want to put it on the record because other members have raised it and I think there is a failure of leadership on behalf of some politicians to engage with residents to try to ensure that where a development happens it is done in a sensible way.

There is also considerable misinformation out there that just because a politician objects it has an impact. I would be very concerned and my experience on South Dublin County Council is almost no political objection has any planning impact because the quality of the objections is so poor and they are not rooted in planning regulation. In light of last night's programme it is important for us to be clear about that.

On a more general point we need to level the playing field for genuine third party opinion makers who want to improve development but do not have technical expertise. Other jurisdictions have non-governmental organisations that can assist residents not to oppose something but to work out how the development of a hospital, school or housing can happen in a way that meets the needs of developers and the local community. Greater support for third party and particularly community-based third party opinions would improve the process overall.

Of the 60% of cases taking longer than 18 weeks, how many are taking six months or 12 months? If Mr. Walsh does not have that information, he might be able to provide it in tabular form at a later stage so that we have a quantifiable picture for it. I would always use the phrase four and a half months because 18 weeks just sounds short. Four and a half months is a long time. I know some of these are incredibly complex cases; I am not trying to minimise it. However, I would like to know how many are eight, 12, 16 or 18 months to get a sense of all of that.

Mr. Walsh will remember I supported the legislation on strategic housing developments at the time. What is the average timeline from start to finish for the applications that have been through the board? The 48 weeks was the problematic length of time for the 15 or so cases that the Department at the time cited to justify the introduction of the legislation. How much better is An Bord Pleanála doing than the average 48 weeks from the spreadsheet for 2015 large housing developments that was given to the committee at that stage? If Mr. Walsh does not have the information today, he might send it on to us subsequently.

How will An Bord Pleanála get to the 80%? It will be great if it can do it and the committee will commend Mr. Walsh and all his staff. The resources at An Bord Pleanála have not increased dramatically - I know there are more board members etc. Promising that it will get to that level of compliance by the middle or end of the year is a big commitment.

I was going to ask about the major issue of the website and Mr. Walsh has answered part of it. The local authority planning sections' websites have improved greatly. Not only is it easier to search for something, but, for example, the interactive mapping tools now available are wonderful. I often want to know about a planning application in South Dublin County Council. Without any notion of the reference number, I can go on map and see all the planning history. Will the An Bord Pleanála site eventually not only have functionality that allows us to access decisions and filed, but will it also have that kind of mapping tool? Does it hope to reach that point? Having that would be an enormous advance and more than welcome.

Returning to reaching the 80%, what is holding An Bord Pleanála back? Is it simply those legacy issues of fewer board members and staff? What is the explanation? If they are all just legacy issues, clearly it will be better able to meet the 80%. If they are not just legacy issues, are there other issues of which we should be aware?