Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. There are delays in An Bord Pleanála at the moment and that is particularly the case with SHDs. Some of that is linked to a court case, the outcome of which the board needed to know before it could decide on these applications. I met with the new chairperson of An Bord Pleanála about this and with the Minister. The board is getting the additional resources and staff it needs but it will take a bit of time to get through the backlog. Having met with An Bord Pleanála, I am now confident the backlog is now already coming down and will be resolved.

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