Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 496: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on the anomalies that appear to exist between the decisions of planning departments of local government authorities and those of An Bord Pleanala; the sanctions, if any, that apply where there are clear guidelines set down in the Planning and Development Act or in a local authority development plan and these are breached in arriving at a decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3286/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Separate provisions apply to the exercise of planning control by a planning authority and An Bord Pleanala under Part III of the Planning and Development Act, 2000. The raison d'etre of the Board, as an independent planning appeals body, also suggests that it will make decisions that do not accord with those already taken by planning authorities; this does not mean that the planning authority is not properly considering the relevant factors, including its development plan policies and the provisions of relevant legislation and guidelines.

An Bord Pleanala's Annual Report 2008 shows that the Board confirmed planning authority decisions in about one third of planning appeal cases, varied planning authority decisions in one third of cases and reversed planning authority decisions in the remaining one third of cases; while there will be variations amongst planning authorities, these proportions have generally remained constant in recent years.

My Department keeps the planning code under regular review in order to ensure that it supports proper planning and sustainable development. My Department has also issued a large number of statutory planning guidelines to promote best practice in planning authorities and consistency across planning authorities. Copies of the guidelines are available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie.