Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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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.

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.

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 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, and 93 of these posts are new positions sanctioned in the past 12 months. A breakdown of the type, cost and status of each of the 93 posts sanctioned in the last 12 months is provided by An Bord Pleanála in Table 1below.

Table 1: Posts Sanctioned in An Bord Pleanála in the past 12 months

Posts Sanctioned	Cost Per Post	Status of Posts as of 15/09/23
Assistant Director of Planning x1	€88,093	Filled
Senior Planning Inspector x25	€78,656	13 Filled 12 Vacant
Planning Inspector x12	€68,491	7 Filled 5 Vacant
Senior Administrative Officer x1	€74,701	Vacant
Senior Executive Officer Specialist x2	€53,955	2 Vacant
Senior Executive Officer x5	€53,955	1 Filled 4 Vacant
Executive Officer x20	€33,812	8 Filled12 Vacant
Administrative Assistant x21	€27,132	2 Filled19 Vacant
Director of Marine Planning x1	€100,995	Filled
Director of Legal Affairs x1	€97,207	Filled
Ethics Officer x1	€74,701	Vacant
Director of Transformation x1	€97,207	Vacant
Marine Specialist x2	€78,656	2 Vacant