Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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882. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for a breakdown in tabular form of the number of staff, and their grade currently, employed within An Bord Pleanála, highlighting if they are employed on a part-time or full-time basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37821/23]

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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883. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for a breakdown in tabular form of the number of vacant staffing positions and their grade within An Bord Pleanála; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37822/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 882 and 883 together.

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.

There are now more people working at the Board than at any time previously. Since October 2021, my Department has agreed to 117 new staffing posts in the Board, as detailed below.

• In October 2021, my Department approved an additional 24 posts across a range of technical and administrative grades including the setting up of a new Marine and Climate Unit.
• In December 2022, 34 additional posts were sanctioned, and the Board is in the process of filling these positions.
• In April 2023, the Board submitted sanction requests for a total of 59 new posts, all of which were approved by my Department.

In order to be of assistance, my Department obtained the information requested from the Board who have provided the following information.

The Board has received approval and sanction from my Department for a total of 313 posts for 2023. The Board have advised that, as of the 31 August 2023 there were 238 people working in the Board including Board Members. There is currently one vacancy at Board member level which is due to be filled by temporary appointment later this month. The Board have advised that there are the vacancies remaining from the sanctioned posts and existing posts due to resignations, and that these vacancies are at various stages of the recruitment process.

Table 1: Board Membership at An Bord Pleanála

Table 2: Staffing at An Bord Pleanála as of 31 August 2023