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

The Deputy is absolutely right: there is a real problem. There are two key immediate solutions that the Government has to provide. I understand the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has, with the agreement of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, committed to additional staff for An Bord Pleanála. We need planning, ecological and science-based expertise, in addition to expertise in a range of other areas. The board needs additional resources; that is absolutely clear to me.

The Attorney General is conducting a review of the Planning and Development Act 2000 that will codify and modernise it. The Act has been amended so many times and is so complex, layered and difficult to interpret that it, too, is not helping in making fast planning decisions. The work is to be concluded by the end of this year. It is one of the most important projects or tasks taken on by the Government. I have 100% confidence in the ability of the Attorney General and the special team he has brought together to deliver that. That will be key.

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