Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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1557. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the additional resources and personnel he plans to allocate to An Bord Pleanála; the cost and timing of these additional supports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15741/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department engages with An Bord Pleanála (the Board) on an ongoing basis to ensure that it has the appropriate resources to perform its broad range of functions.

Section 116 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides for the payment to the Board in each financial year of a grant of such amount as the Minister may fix, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The grant goes towards financing the administration and general expenses of the Board.  The grant allocation for 2018 is €17.2m.  The staffing complement of the Board at the end of February 2018 was 147.8 (whole-time equivalent).  There are also currently 10 Board members, including the Chairperson.

Under the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016, the Board received additional functions in relation to determining planning applications for strategic housing developments which will apply until end-2019 and, subject to a review, may be extended until end-2021.  The legislation provided for the establishment of a new Strategic Housing Division within the Board to decide on these applications, requiring the appointment of two additional ordinary Board members. 

The first additional Board member was appointed on 12 February 2018 and I expect to make the second appointment shortly.  In addition, the filling of an additional dedicated 10 professional and administrative posts was sanctioned by my Department to support the new Division and the relevant staff are in place since 2017. The annual cost of these additional resources is estimated to be of the order of €800,000.