Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The chief executive and his or her team. We should think of it in terms of a local authority and the development management process. The county manager and planners adjudicate on the applications but the board that holds them to account does not. The board would be the equivalent of the members of a local authority. There has to be expertise in respect of adjudicating on the applications. The board, as a corporate structure, holds the chief executive to account. If the Deputy is referring to the model of An Bord Pleanála, it involves a different mechanism. I am referring to a corporate structure. The board holds the chief executive to account, but the chief executive and his team have the expertise to adjudicate on the applications.