Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his Department will request An Bord Pleanála to introduce a formal quality review procedures to allow evaluation of the planning merits of its decisions and the setting of standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5265/06]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 208: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if his Department regularly monitors planning decisions; his plans to address problems which may have arisen in relation to the quality of such decisions arising at a policy or planning authority level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5266/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 202 and 208 together.

As part of the response to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of April 2002 on the operation of the planning appeals system, a committee of officials from my Department and An Bord Pleanála was established to meet to assist in responding to the recommendations of that report. Arising out of the discussions of that committee, An Bord Pleanála has put in place a mechanism to address and respond to complaints about its decisions and to correct decisions where appropriate. The board has also put in place revised internal operational procedures aimed at ensuring ongoing quality in the decisions that they make. In addition, under section 34(10) of the Planning and Development Act, the board is required to indicate the main reasons and considerations on which its decisions are based.

The report also identified a role for the Department in examining the rate in overturns of planning decisions of individual planning authorities. In addition to working with the board through the joint committee to analyse the trends in overturns by category of development, my Department is actively liaising with a sub-committee of the City and County Managers' Association to monitor practices and identify the need for policy guidance on specific issues and the scope for exchanging best practice amongst planning authorities. Over recent years, the Department has also proactively engaged in producing policy guidelines on key areas to help ensure greater consistency in decision making. The performance indicators, which contain a number on the planning system and were published for the first time in 2004, will also be a valuable baseline against which future performance can be assessed over the coming years. The Department will continue to work with the board and the local authorities to improvement the quality of their performance in development management.