Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. He has vast experience in this area as a Minister of State in the Department. My Commencement matter sets out the need for the Minister to make a statement on the timeline for the full publication of the Planning and Development Act 2024 and progress on the Am Bord Pleanála IT project. When I submitted this, the Government had not at that point issued its press release setting out its timeline of the implementation. Within an hour or two of it being submitted, I received a memo, via a journalist and not internally, to the effect that the press release would be issued later in the afternoon. Anyway, I saw that draft and therefore had to somewhat change my message.

The systems are clearly well oiled in the Customs House, and they set out their schedule, which is interesting, and it is important to acknowledge that. The Planning and Development Act 2024 was the culmination of a comprehensive legal review of the Planning and Development Act 2000, led by the then Attorney General, and subsequently the Attorney General's office. It was initiated by the Government in July 2021. I acknowledge the role played by the Minister of State and his predecessors in that and, in essence, the key message was improving clarity, consistency and confidence within the planning system. They were the three underlying messages that Minister after Minister came into this House to set out. We have to take that as fact, and we have to progress. Regardless of how Members voted and the outcome of the amendments, we now have this very important legislation. I am asking that we now proceed to roll-out. It is important to acknowledge that the Planning and Development Act 2024 introduced key reforms, like the introduction of statutory timelines for all consenting processes given the confidence we talked about. What I really want to concentrate on today is the significant reorganisation of An Bord Pleanála.

The Act is not fully published yet because it has not been fully translated into Irish. I understand from officials in the Department that it requires a substantial body of work. That is not a matter for the Department but for the Oireachtas, and we have to bear with the Oireachtas and the enormous burden of this significant Bill, one of the biggest in the history of the State, that has to be fully translated into the Irish language in compliance with the Official Languages Act 2003. That process is in play and is being dealt with, so I am not asking the Minister of State to deal with that today.

There is a substantial amount of learning and that is why the Government clearly set out its timeline for introduction of the various phases. That is clear and I am glad for the clarity we had on that this week. I ask therefore that the Minister of State address two issues. First, it is important to use the Office of the Planning Regulator, which does an excellent job in this area, and the city and county council representative associations such as the Association of Irish Local Government and Local Authorities Members Association to set about training modules to introduce people, commensurate with the sections as they have been introduced. Our city and county councillors are on the ground. The Minister of State knows this area exceptionally well. It is important that we set about training and facilitating understanding both for the executives in the council and in particular the county councillors. For many years there has been an omission by Government to introduce the IT planning - pleanála.ie. I will suggest something, and I do not want to be too provocative. Millions of euro have been spent by An Bord Pleanála and its agents in developing an IT system. We are familiar with the Arts Council saga and the investigation by Government into areas around that. I am deeply concerned about the public money that has been spent on a system that is not up and functioning. I therefore put the alarm bells out to the Minister of State today that I will be making further comment on it in the next week or so. We need to address the issue of what is the IT system that is appropriate for the Planning and Development Act. Let us get on with the issue of the IT systems.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Senator will appreciate that much of this answer was based on the question, so I will quickly go through it.

I thank him for the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Browne, to update the House on the Planning and Development Act 2024 and progress on the An Bord Pleanála Plean IT project. While the Planning and Development Act was signed in October 2024 and is available electronically on the Irish Statute Book, it is not yet available as Gaeilge and in printed form. The publication of the Act is not a matter for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as the Senator stated. However, it is my understanding that the Act will not be available in print until such time as it is translated. Rannóg an Aistriúcháin provides translation services for the Houses of the Oireachtas and provides official translations of the Acts of the Oireachtas. The commencement of the Act is a key priority for Government and it is being commenced on a phased basis to facilitate the transition from the arrangements under the current Act to those under the next Act. I am pleased to inform the House, as the Senator alluded to, that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage published an implementation plan for the Act earlier this week.Ahead of the Act's commencement date, there will be a range of initiatives to support training and engagement to help the planning sector prepare for the phased transition. The Senator referenced the training. I expect that will happen in the normal way. I will bring the Senator's comments in that regard to the respective Ministers as well.

With regard to the An Bord Pleanála Plean-IT project, An Bord Pleanála commenced an ICT strategy in 2013. The purpose of the strategy was to address the board’s reliance on legacy systems. The Plean-IT programme was initiated in 2014 to implement this strategy. An external consulting firm was appointed following a public procurement process to carry out a feasibility study to assist in making a business case for the project. The business case was for three elements: a new case management system, CMS; geographical information systems, GIS; and a new website and portal. These three elements combined were referred to as the Plean-IT project, with the CMS retaining the name Plean-IT. The business case was approved by the Department of public expenditure, which stipulated a phased project implementation. Following a separate public procurement process, an external consultancy firm was appointed to project manage Plean-IT. It assisted with the identification of the specific requirements for the tender specification for the new system. To ensure proper governance, a steering committee was established. Approval of key milestones was required to be given by the steering committee and the board of An Bord Pleanála. The project was projected to take five years from 2014 to 2019. A further public procurement process led to an external ICT company being appointed to develop the selected CMS. Development commenced in 2016 and the CMS went live in October 2017. The GIS element of the project went live during 2017 and was integrated with the new CMS.

At the conclusion of the initial five-year period, a suite of enhancements and system improvements were introduced. This was phase II of the project. Additional external expertise was publicly procured in 2019 to progress phase II. The board approved the renovation of the CMS using an internal team led by a new project manager and business analyst.

The system has now been operational for eight years. Throughout the implementation period, the board reported regularly on progress. The Plean-IT project, both phase I and phase II, was fully completed in 2021. In April 2021, a new website was launched that facilitated online submissions and-or observations, including associated fees for cases before the board. As is standard with all major ICT projects, a lessons learned review of Plean-IT was carried out in 2022 by an external consultant following a public procurement process.

The Department sanctioned a director of transformation and digital services post following the Minister's action plan and the OPR report of 2022 to head up the next development phase of the board’s ICT strategy. An Bord Pleanála's transformation and digital services unit is currently working with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, OGCIO, developing online applications to receive normal planning appeals. An Bord Pleanála is committed to optimising the use of digital channels for service delivery. The board is working towards the provision of a nationally available, user-friendly and easily accessible service that meets customers' expectations. This will be realised by maximising the use of enhanced ICT systems and processes to support business operations. Plean-IT is an example of the board’s commitment to delivery in this area.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State very much. There is a lot of information in that, if I was ever convinced, or needed to be convinced, that the Department needed to exercise its governance and have a governance unit as regards An Bord Pleanála. I respectfully ask the Minister of State to take a message to the Department, including the senior manager, that it should initiate a full and comprehensive governance review of all matters relating to IT in An Bord Pleanála since 2014. I am deeply concerned and have substantial knowledge about some of the shortcomings. I am more than happy to assist the Department with any issues I can. If the Minister of State takes a trawl through the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, he will see back to Simon Coveney's time as Minister that commitments were consistently given. They have not been met. There is an inconsistency across the 31 local authorities. I can go to Cahersiveen to express a concern about a planning matter, but I have to come to Marlborough Street in Dublin to look at some of the coloured pictures with regard to planning. There are major shortcomings. There are concerns about the governance and the spending of public money. There is a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability around this issue. I ask the Minister of State to convey this to the Minister as a matter of importance. It is my view that a number of parliamentary questions should be submitted the week after next to Dáil Éireann to flesh out this matter in more detail.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I note the comments Senator Boyhan made, which I will bring back to the respective Ministers. Plean-IT is a fully functioning system that integrates case management, GIS mapping and public procurement. It has been in operation for some eight years to date. The project was subject to project governance and management, public procurement and necessary approvals through all phases of development. Progress on the project was publicly reported on an annual basis in the An Bord Pleanála annual reports. The project was completed four years ago in 2021.

An Bord Pleanála continues to be committed to optimising and improving the use of digital channels for service delivery in this ever-changing and fast-growing space. The board is now working towards the provision of an even more user-friendly and easily accessible service that meets customers expectations. I will take the Senator's comments back to the respective Ministers.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State.