Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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413. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the rate of overturning decisions of planners by An Bord Pleanála since 2011; if the planner upheld the planning authorities decision; the details of each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30139/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Since the establishment of An Bord Pleanála in 1977, planning legislation has clearly assigned final responsibility for decisions on planning appeals to the Board and not to inspectors preparing reports and making recommendations to the Board.

The number of inspectors’ recommendations not generally accepted in the final decisions made by the Board for the years 2011- 2017 is outlined in the following table.

This information, and other related statistics, are publically available in An Bord Pleanála's Annual Reports which can be accessed at the following link:

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An Bord Pleanála is required by section 34(10) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to state the main reasons and considerations on which its decisions on planning appeals are based, including reasons for the imposition of any conditions. The Board is also required to indicate the main reasons for not accepting any recommendation to grant or refuse permission by an inspector engaged by it to report on a planning case.

The main reasons and considerations, referred to above, are stated on the Board decision order in each case and also on the Board direction sheet which precedes the making and signing of the formal Board order and records the outcome of the Board meeting at which the relevant case was discussed and decided. These documents are publicly available for inspection on the website of An Bord Pleanála and at its offices within 3 days following the making of the Board decision.

Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies. The contact email address for An Bord Pleanála is .