Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the present situation in relation to the significant appeals delay in An Bord Pleanála; the reason for such delays; the action being taken to expedite the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36605/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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An Bord Pleanála have experienced sustained high volumes of case intake of the last few years, with cumulative increases of 24% between 2004 and 2005 over the 2003 intake. Based on the rate of intake at end October, it is anticipated that the Board will come close to taking in a record level of appeals in 2006, for the second year in succession.

By end October the Board had received over 5,000 cases and disposed of 4,773, an increase of 5% on 2005 and 12% on 2004 in the number of cases disposed. The percentage of cases resolved within the statutory period was 53%, while the average time taken to dispose of cases was 18.1 weeks (which compares favourably to the previous peak of case intake in 2001 when the average time taken to make decisions was 25 weeks).

In recognition of the increased demands on the Board, and to assist in the delivery of the provisions of the Strategic Infrastructure Act 2006, an additional 24 permanent staff has been sanctioned, which would bring the total complement to 160.5.