Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for choosing this Topical Issue. I will reference a local example, but the underlying issue is one of national importance.

Last Thursday week, 20 March 2014, planning permission which had been granted by Cork City Council for a development on the quays in the city centre of office accommodation for 2,000 workers was appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Under the current rules, any individual or company has an absolute right to make such an appeal. I have two difficulties with the current situation, the first of which relates to the length of time and uncertainty surrounding the appeal process.

An Bord Pleanála uses the unusual term "statutory objective" regarding its intention to deal with appeals within 18 weeks. However, it is not a statutory requirement. There is a statutory requirement on local authorities to deal with planning applications within four months, including a month for extra information. An Bord Pleanála will make the case that it has increased the pace at which it deals with appeals. While Ireland is doing exceptionally well on international competitiveness charts, one area in which we are not faring well involves the uncertainty in the planning process. It is no consolation for a company seeking certainty to wonder whether it will fall within the 20% of appeals to An Bord Pleanála which can take up to a year to process. The proposed development in Cork has a specific client with 700 jobs to offer. We are competing in Cork not only with other Irish cities, but other countries which would like to attract the specific company. One of the reasons the company is willing to locate in Cork is to have specific offices designed and built as quickly as possible.

My second difficulty relates to the mode of appeal. Anyone who has made an application or an objection to an application at the local authority stage may appeal to An Bord Pleanála. The fees on appeal are up to €50. There is no restriction on anyone who wishes to make an observation on a local authority planning application. A person may be based anywhere in the country and object to an application in Cork regarding which he or she has no skin in the game. That must be looked at. People can object for competitive reasons. I note that in Cork an objector has argued that it has similar office space to offer. I assume the company has looked at that. Some business in Dublin might object to a business's plans in Cork without having any reason or having to provide a reason.

I ask that the time for disposing of appeals be made a statutory requirement for An Bord Pleanála. I also ask that the grounds on which an objection can be made be examined while protecting people with geographical or other valid reasons for objecting to a development. We are seeing cases arising in circumstances in which jobs are being created. I urge the Minister to consider the issues I have raised.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. There are two issues to discuss in addressing the issues raised while bearing in mind that under section 30 of the Planning and Development Acts I am precluded from discussing individual developments which are matters for the appropriate planning authority - in this case Cork City Council.

Legislation sets down a requirement for An Bord Pleanála to ensure that planning appeals are determined within an 18 week period. The board has a strategic objective to determine the bulk of cases within this period. In 2013, more than 72% of appeals were concluded within 18 weeks. Those appeals represented the bulk of the planning workload. As of February 2014, the compliance rate for normal planning appeals with the statutory objective was 80%.

An Bord Pleanála operates a classification system designed to identify and prioritise the processing of certain types of appeals. Generally, the system prioritises cases at the earliest stages which have significant employment potential or involve projects of significant economic potential on a national, regional and-or local scale. The project to which the Deputy refers falls into that category. Also prioritised are major infrastructure developments that would not be classified under the legislation as strategic infrastructure. The Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006 established a strategic infrastructure division within An Bord Pleanála to act as a one stop shop in respect of all major infrastructure projects. In addition to motorways and local authority projects, which were already handled by the board, the strategic infrastructure division is the sole planning consent authority for major electricity transmission lines, railway lines, heavy and light rail and metro orders, infrastructure requiring environmental impact assessment, such as significant airport or port developments, waste infrastructure, very large energy projects and strategic upstream and downstream gas pipelines.

Regarding the assessment of planning appeals by An Bord Pleanála, it should be remembered that the 18 week objective is broken down into a number of deadlines which facilitate the making of an informed decision. The board must gather all relevant information from the planning authority, applicants and parties to the appeal and enable the relevant parties to provide feedback. The process is particularly challenging in the case of strategic infrastructure. Accordingly, attempts to cut back the 18 week decision period could have a bearing on the ability of the board to make an informed decisions, which is key to the whole process. The point the Deputy makes as to the large number of jobs offered by a key employer indicate that the matter will fall into the priority category.

Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the reference to priority.

It is not clear, however, whether the company in question can be informed that it is being given priority as the position in this regard remains a little vague.

While I do not have any issue with a timeframe for processing applications of 18 weeks and I am aware of the 80% target and the other figures cited by the Minister of State, I cannot understand the reason the position cannot be changed to require An Bord Pleanála to meet the same target as local authorities, which must deal with 100% of applications within four months. I fully accept that An Bord Pleanála's performance has improved and that if decisions are made within the timeframe in 80% of cases, 80% of applicants will be happy. However, if An Bord Pleanála were required to process all applications within 18 weeks, large companies would have a definitive timeframe for a decision on their application and could report to their parent boards that a cap of 18 weeks - essentially four months - applies to the processing of planning applications in Ireland. I ask the Minister of State to consider this matter.

The Minister of State did not refer to the second issue I raised, namely, the practice by which companies lodge objections to planning applications for competitive or, worse still, scurrilous reasons. If an objector is not located close to the site to which a planning application pertains or if the objection is clearly motivated by competitive reasons, these factors should be taken into account, either by expediting the decision or disqualifying the objection. I make clear, however, that in the case I raise the companies in question have valid reasons for objecting. I am not suggesting their objections are scurrilous.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I am sure Deputy Murphy will agree that we must ensure there is confidence in the planning process, that the process is transparent and that the right to object is respected.

Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Yes.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Government is working on construction policy and will publish a strategy on the issue in the near future. Many planning issues are under consideration and all issues related to planning are kept under constant review. Planning legislation will also be introduced later in the year. However, I cannot provide any commitments on the issue of objectors living in a local area or having valid reasons to object. At this point, there are no plans to change the position in that regard. As I stated, however, these issues are kept under review.

I reiterate that An Bord Pleanála is making good progress in reaching its objectives. While it is not required to meet a target of processing 100% of applications within 18 weeks, it aims to achieve this target and is making steady progress towards doing so. It has assured the Department that it prioritises planning applications that are strategically important or involve job creation. This should offer encouragement that the application in question will be dealt with as speedily as possible.