Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an cheist thábhachtach seo. The Deputy is correct. I met with the interim chairperson of the board, Oonagh Buckley, on a number of occasions. The board now has 15 board members whereas it was as low as five last year and we had to stabilise it as it was in a difficult position. We brought forward the large-scale residential developments Act and there is now no backlog in that space and there are statutory timeframes. I have asked the board to work through the backlog. There are parallel board meetings happening and four board meetings a day are taking place to make decisions on cases. This remains a big issue for many people. The Deputy is correct that we will bring the consolidated planning and development Bill to the House and that will have those statutory timeframes. I intend to get that into the House and our intention, as a Government, is to have that legislation passed this year.

In the meantime, I can assure the Deputy that, through my officials, we are actively engaged with the board to work through the backlog. Furthermore, we are using the expertise of retired planners to look at the smaller cases, such as individual house extensions and those types of things, in order to clear those through. That is working quite well but I will keep the Deputy informed of progress.

See this speech in context