James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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302. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number and which of the 101 recommendations for the reform of An Bord Pleanála from the 2016 review that have now been fully implemented; the status of the remainder; the timescale for the full implementation of the recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5997/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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An Organisational Review of An Bord Pleanála was undertaken by an independent expert panel and published in March 2016. An Implementation Group, comprising representation from my Department and An Bord Pleanála (the Board), was established to oversee the implementation of the Review recommendations.

The Review contains 101 recommendations relating to legislative provisions, communications and stakeholder engagement, the Board's role and governance along with organisational and operational matters.

The Implementation Group published its Terms of Reference and Plan for Implementation in 2016. The Board, supported by my Department, as required, took the lead in the implementation of a large number of the key recommendations, with my Department taking the lead in examining recommendations requiring legislative underpinning.

“Housing for All – A New Housing Plan for Ireland” sets out a number of objectives with the aim of improving the functioning of the planning system including the comprehensive review and consolidation of planning legislation. This review is being led by the Attorney General and he has established a working group of professionals with planning law expertise to assist him in this work. The review is due to be finalised by September 2022 to allow updated legislation to be enacted by December 2022. As such, recommendations of the Organisational Review of An Bord Pleanála requiring legislative underpinning will be considered in the context of the ongoing review of planning legislsation.

An update on the implementation status of each of the 101 recommendations contained in the report is attached in tabular form.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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303. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that over the past two years the average timeline for An Bord Pleanála inspector to complete their report into wind farm planning applications is 40 weeks and the average time for An Bord Pleanála to make its final decision from receipt of the inspectors report is 10 weeks; and his plans to assist An Bord Pleanála shorten these timescales to ensure the Government meets commitments in the Climate Action Plan. [5998/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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An Bord Pleanála (the Board) is the national independent statutory body with responsibility for the determination of planning appeals and direct applications for strategic infrastructure and other developments under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and certain other Acts.

Section 126 of the Act provides that it shall be the duty and objective of the Board to decide appeals as expeditiously as may be and, for that purpose, to take all such steps as are open to it to ensure that, insofar as is practicable, there are no avoidable delays at any stage in the determination of appeals.

Section 126 also provides that it shall be an objective of the Board to ensure that every appeal is determined within 18 weeks beginning on the date of receipt of an appeal. Where it is not possible or appropriate, because of the particular circumstances of an appeal, to determine an appeal within the 18 week period the Board is required to notify the participants in the appeal before the expiration of that period giving the reason for not meeting the objective target and specifying a date before which the Board intends to determine the appeal. Where any case has exceeded the statutory objective period then the Board will have written to the parties involved as per these statutory requirements. In circumstances where any new date is not met it is my understanding it is the practice of the Board to also notify the parties of that and the reason for the further delay.

The Board’s 2021 Performance Delivery Agreement with the Department reflects an overall target to determine 60% - 75% of all normal planning appeal cases within the 18 week statutory objective period. It is my understanding that, as of end December 2021, 58% of all such cases disposed were concluded within this 18 week target.

It is important to acknowledge that a certain percentage of cases, due to particular circumstances, such as complexity, requests for further information from applicants for permission or further submissions from other participants including third parties, will not meet the 18 week target.

In October 2021 my Department approved the 2021-2022 An Bord Pleanála Workforce Plan which provides for an additional 24 posts across a range of technical and administrative grades and the creation of a new Marine and Climate Unit to implement the role assigned to the Board under the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021. Following an assessment by the Board of resourcing issues likely to emerge as a result of newly enacted legislation, a new workforce plan will be submitted to my Department by the Board for consideration shortly.

My Department will continue to liaise closely with the Board to ensure that it has appropriate resources to maintain and improve its compliance rate, in line with its annual Performance Delivery Agreement targets.

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 Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie.