Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 274: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the integrity of the planning system if predicated on the ability of local authorities to enforce them; if his attention has been drawn to the extent of reported unauthorised developments and the timeframe they are dealt with by county nationally; if a local authority has sought sanction for the employment of additional staff in relation to planning compliance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11968/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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According to returns supplied to my Department for the Annual Planning Statistics 2005, a total of 6,419 warning letters were issued by planning authorities in 2005, 2,667 enforcement cases were initiated, 948 enforcement cases were complied with, a further 105 convictions were achieved and planning authorities have the remainder in hands. Section 154 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 sets out the timeframes for dealing with enforcement notices under the Act.

In relation to staffing, the Annual Statistics indicate that 275 staff were engaged in planning enforcement in planning authorities in 2005. There are no proposals with my Department from local authorities for the employment of additional staff in relation to planning compliance.

The Draft Development Management Guidelines, which will be finalised and published shortly, advise local authorities that adequate staff, financial and other resources should be allocated to ensuring that compliance with the development plan and planning conditions are given the importance that they deserve. It is a matter for the manager of each local authority, under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, to make such staffing and organisational arrangements as may be necessary for the purposes of carrying out the functions of the local authorities for which he/she is responsible, subject to overall Government policy on the control and regulation of numbers in the public sector, including local authorities, announced in the Minister for Finance's Budget statement of 7 December 2005. I am continuing to keep the overall employment position in the sector under regular review, having regard to the need to deliver quality front line services and achieve value for money within the parameters of Government policy on public service employment generally.

The Planning and Development Act 2000 gave substantial additional powers to planning authorities in the enforcement area. These were further supplemented by provisions in the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006, which empowers planning authorities to refuse permission to any developer who has seriously failed to comply with a previous planning permission and the developer will have to go to the High Court if he wishes to apply to have this decision overturned. I am therefore satisfied that local authorities have adequate resources and powers to take required action in such cases.