Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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368. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of staff broken down by grade and unit employed in An Bord Pleanála who are dealing directly with applications from offshore wind energy projects; if he intends to increase this number; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23157/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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It should be noted that 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 in this regard is Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie.

In order to assist the Deputy, my Department requested and received the information sought from An Bord Pleanála, who have advised that they do not currently have any applications from offshore wind energy projects.

An Bord Pleanála’s Workforce Plan for 2021-2022 was approved by my Department in October 2021 and sanctioned 24 additional posts. This included an initial 8 staff for a new Marine/Climate Unit, which would involve responsibility for processing future offshore wind energy applications, as follows:

I understand that the Board is currently preparing a Maritime Resource Plan to identify the additional staffing needs to implement its new functions expected under the Maritime Area Planning Act. It is expected that this Maritime Resource Plan will be submitted by An Bord Pleanála to my Department for consideration shortly.