Mr. Dave Walsh:

We have a very clear code of conduct under which board members must recuse themselves where they have local connections or are affected by other such considerations. That is on the public record. On the question as to whether two or three board members are making a decision, the board has 2,600 to 3,000 cases to decide. In 2019, we met more than 800 times as a board tribunal. There were multiple meetings going on. It is not practical for the board to go out to every single site. That is why we have a team of 60 inspectors who give us their views. We look not only at the inspector's report but at all of the information provided, including the local authority's observations, any commentary from State agencies, submissions from observers and so on. The Oireachtas has designed a system which allows us to use the collective expertise of the board to determine cases. We have a range of skills. The board consists of not only planners but architects, engineers, archaeologists and administrators. In other jurisdictions, such as in the North, as the Deputy will probably know, there is a single planning commissioner who makes decisions on individual cases.