Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Under section 126 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 An Bord Pleanála has a statutory objective to determine planning appeals within 18 weeks. Where the board does not consider it possible or appropriate to reach a decision within 18 weeks, for example, because of the particular complexities of a case or the requirement to hold an oral hearing, it will inform the parties of the reasons for this and will indicate when it intends to make its decision.

It is acknowledged that there has been a reduction in the board's compliance rate with the statutory objective period during the past year due to a number of factors, including a significant increase in the number of cases it has received. At the end of October of this year, the compliance rate for normal planning appeals stood at 38% while the rate stood at 43.5% for all planning cases. A range of measures have been taken to address this, including the appointment of additional board members. I am satisfied, taking account of the increased Exchequer grant of €18.5 million for the board in 2019, which represents a 7% increase on this year, that the measures involved will enable the board to significantly improve its compliance rate. The number of cases decided by the board in the ten months to end October 2018 was up 26% on the corresponding period in 2017 and the board's output is now approximately 250 cases per month.

It is important to note that for large housing developments new streamlined arrangements have been introduced to enable planning applications for strategic housing developments to be made directly to the board. At the end of September of this year, a total of 39 such applications had been made and the board had issued decisions in 29 cases, all of which were made within the prescribed 16-week timeframe, thus delivering a 100% compliance rate in these cases. In addition, planning appeals in respect of housing developments of 30 units or more are prioritised.

The board currently has a complement of 11 members, including a new chairperson, who took up duty on 30 October 2018, and an additional board member, who was engaged in June 2018, in addition to the normal complement of ten members. The board also employs more than 150 staff, including the ten additional dedicated staff engaged in 2017 to support the strategic housing division, which has a 100% compliance rate. My Department will continue to liaise closely with the board to ensure it has appropriate resources to support it in the performance of its functions.

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