Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will be going to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform looking for delivery on the sort of numbers that CRU is looking for in its strategic plan. I think we will be able to recruit people, because there are a lot of people with energy expertise in our country. We need to see movement from the private sector into the regulatory sector. I think that has to be managed appropriately. There is a fairly wide and deep pool of people in this country with real expertise. With regard to An Bord Pleanála, that is obviously a matter for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I spoke to him recently on this issue and he has confirmed that there are plans to scale up the organisation. It is a difficult market. The organisation will be looking for planners and ecologists. There is a real tightness. This is a critical issue not just for our renewables industry but also for housing, because An Bord Pleanála is one of the real bottlenecks. Part of the problem there is probably that An Bord Pleanála is tied up in judicial reviews, with many decisions being reviewed. The planning reform being carried out by the Office of the Attorney General to help modernise, update and improve the planning legislation will help An Bord Pleanála manage the resources that it has, but it needs additional resources urgently.

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