James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I detect from the Minister's contribution that there will be a staff shortage in An Bord Pleanála. I have grave concerns about the burdens this legislation will place on the board. The Minister is providing an extra grant of approximately €251,000 to the board, despite the fact that last October the board stated it was finding it difficult to maintain the current position in terms of the time it takes to determine cases that have already been dealt with. When Mr. O'Connor from the board spoke to the Oireachtas joint committee he informed us that there were insufficient staff in the board. The Minister spoke of lifting the embargo and providing for the allocation of an additional ten members of staff. In view of this, I can understand the reason for the Minister's proposal to extend the period in which a decision on a planning application is made to 18 weeks, rather than 12 weeks. If An Bord Pleanála was sufficiently staffed, however, it could ensure that decisions could be made within 12 weeks, beginning on the last day for making submissions or observations in accordance with the notice referred to in section 3. The Minister has proposed to make some minor adjustments to this section. I hope they will be major adjustments which will take my previous amendment on board. The planning reform that is needed cannot be achieved if adequate resources are not put in place. The Minister will have to give due consideration to this amendment.