Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 111: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of staff employed by An Bord Pleanála; if his attention has been drawn to the delays in processing appeals; if he will allocate additional staff to an Bord Pleanála to alleviate the problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35259/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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In recognition of the key role An Bord Pleanála plays in relation to delivery of local and national infrastructure, the demands arising from sustained record levels of appeals over recent years and the implementation of the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) 2006 Act, sanction was given in 2007 for a considerable increase in the Board's staffing resources. The total authorized staff complement has increased by 35.5 to 172, while Board membership rose from 10 to 11 with the appointment of an additional temporary Board member.

Under Section 126 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, An Bord Pleanála has a statutory objective to determine appeals within 18 weeks. Where the Board does not consider it possible or appropriate to reach a decision within 18 weeks (e.g. because of delays arising from the holding of an oral hearing), it will inform the parties of the reasons for this, and will indicate when it intends to make its decision.

The performance of the Board in relation to the disposal of appeals within the statutory objective period must be viewed in the context of record levels of case intake over successive years 2004 — 2007 and the assumption of significant new functions under the 2006 Act. The introduction of the new functions under the 2006 Act necessitated a restructuring of the Board's operations and the creation of a dedicated Strategic Infrastructure Division.

During 2007, An Bord Pleanála received 6,664 new cases, an increase of 12% on 2006 and determined 6,163 which represented a 10% increase on the previous year. The high intake of new appeal cases in 2007 and the high level of Strategic Infrastructure cases received resulted in a significant rise in the workload on hands by the end of 2007. Nearly half of all cases were determined within the statutory objective period in 2007 but there has been deterioration in appeal disposals within the statutory objective period in 2008.

With the predicted lower intake of cases going forward, the increased resources made available and other measures to improve throughput, it is expected that progress will be made over the coming months towards increasing the percentage of cases that are determined within the statutory objective period.