Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To put the situation in context, we have the ministerial action plan, which is providing additional resources across all our planning authorities, including the OPR, local authorities and what will be an coimisiún pleanála. The Deputy is correct that many of these roles are specialised and we have a job to do to ensure we increase the pool of talent through third-level education and for people who are selecting jobs or who are looking to work within planning sections.

I will first deal with the example of the board. An Bord Pleanála has approval for approximately 50% more resources than it had two years ago. It is filling those roles but in some areas, for example in respect of the specialised marine planner, it takes time to find the right person with the required expertise and experience. I imagine there will always be some challenges in that regard.

The national planning statements are the new national guidelines. What were the guidelines are now planning statements. One is being replaced with another. It is right to set that timeframe because we want co-ordination across the board. We have had a good debate at the committee about national planning statements and why we believe they are crucial to the provision of the clarity we want across all future Government policy on planning.

We discuss the matter regularly with the CCMA and others. We have approved additional posts. We can get out the figure but I think we have shared with the committee the number of resources that have been approved and are in place across our planning authorities. There may well be requirements for more and the ministerial action plan is in place to consider what additional resources are needed. They have been sanctioned heretofore. There will in the coming years, particularly in specialised areas, be challenges, as there always are in an economy that has full employment. We see people moving between the local authority planning system, the board and the OPR and that type of thing. It is about ensuring that we provide those additional resources, which we are doing, and that we increase the pool of available talent.

There is also unquestionably a need to develop education and training initiatives to increase the availability of personnel.

Regarding the specific question about section 59(1), is it an additional burden, let us say, on the planning authorities? I do not believe it is. It is replacing one thing with another. We will always have to keep resources under review, as they are there. Obviously there will be a greater onus on planning authorities, particularly on an coimisiún pleanála, because it would have statutory timeframes in place that will have to be met. We want to provide certainty around timeframes for planning decisions, which I think all of us agree with because we want efficiency, and consistency of approach, which is why we have set it down to be within two months of the publication of a national statement. Any future government will have to keep abreast of resources in our planning authorities.