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

My Department is working with the County and City Management Association, CCMA, in seeking to define more closely the resourcing needs of the local authority planning sector, and following on from the commitment on the adequate resourcing of planning authorities in Housing for All. This review will examine a range of factors and is advancing in parallel with actions on learning and development and digitalisation of planning which are also important components of delivering an effective service.

Most immediately, recent legislative changes have returned large-scale residential developments, LRDs, to local authorities, which will also involve an appropriate fee structure to ensure that local authorities can resource this function appropriately.

Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each chief executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible. In this regard, the assignment of local authority staff to a particular function, such as planning, is a matter for the chief executive. The Minister approved more than 200 new staff for local authority housing delivery teams in December 2021. These posts will increase the capacity of local authorities to initiate, manage and deliver new build housing schemes across the sector.

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