Mr. David Walsh:

This comes back to the issue of the backlog. That is our timeline under the strategic objective periods.

The 18 weeks is broken down but, as we said, we have been dealing with a backlog. I do not know that particular phase of the timeline but there are many cases in which we have not been able to meet the 18-week period because an inspector has not had time to deal with it within the timeline, or it has not reached the board in time, or for other reasons, but that is the normal period if everything is working to plan and we have all the information.

The next question was about the rate or divergence of inspectors versus board decisions. It is normally somewhere between 10% and 15%. In 2017, the figure was around 12.5%. In some cases, the board considers whether to overturn a decision or recommendation by the inspector to approve or, indeed, refuse a permission, so it could be either way. It is not just all one way. The point and premise of the board is that there is a planning inspector who prepares a file and assesses all the information and there is then a range of expertise on the board. There are architects, engineers, planners, administrators and people who understand the policy. Collectively, those board members look at the review, look at the file afresh, examine it and decide whether, in the context of consistency, there are decisions that sometimes merit either altering conditions or deciding to go against the inspector's recommendation.