John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

Staffing of An Coimisiún Pleanála has been ramped up very significantly, as the Deputy will appreciate. When we sat on this committee together, it was one of the issues that was raised consistently. I have to acknowledge the very significant workload that has gone into restructuring, reorganising and reconstituting An Coimisiún Pleanála from An Bord Pleanála. Two years ago, there were over 3,700 cases on hand in the board. As of last month, there were fewer than 1,400 cases on hand. Since the start of the year, every LRD application that has ended up with the board has been disposed of within the 16-week timeframe, which is a really good news story. Very significant progress has been made within An Coimisiún Pleanála and we will continue to provide support to it in its staffing and reorganisation. There has been significant improvement, as the Deputy will appreciate. I acknowledge the new chairman and director, who have done significant work.