Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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.

The Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Act 2022, which was signed into law in December 2022, addressed certain initial matters which required immediate action on foot of the Action Plan for An Bord Pleanála, Phase 1 of the Office of the Planning Regulator Review of An Bord Pleanála, and other matters relating to addressing board vacancies and addressing the Board’s caseload, including:

• Increasing the limit on the maximum number of members of the Board from 10 to 15, so as to ensure that the increasing caseload can be managed, and the appropriate quorums and suitable allocation of casefiles can be assured, and
• Expanding the provision to appoint temporary ordinary board members to allow for the appointment of serving or former civil servants, public servants, or employees of the Board for a term of up to a year.

The total number of Board members in An Bord Pleanála is now 15, the maximum provided for under the legislation and the greatest number of serving Board members ever.

A full term Chairperson of the Board was appointed by the Government, and the recruitment process for the appointment of full-term Board Members is ongoing and is due to be completed in Q2 2024. Temporary board members may continue to be appointed in the interim as vacancies arise.

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. The Board has advised that as of 29 February 2024 there were 261 individuals working in the Board including Board Members. The Board received approval and sanction from my Department for a total of 313 posts to date.

The Planning and Development Bill 2023 provides for the introduction of statutory mandatory timelines for all consent processes, including appeals and consent applications made to An Bord Pleanála. Timelines for the Board will be introduced on a phased basis, starting with those for Strategic Infrastructure Developments (including energy and transport projects).

The Bill also outlines the proposed new structure for the Board. The new Bill contains a number of provisions reflecting this new organisational structure and will clearly outline the separate roles of:-

• Planning Commissioners - who will be responsible for all decision making regarding appeals and applications made and they will be overseen by a newly created position of Chief Planning Commissioner.
• The Governing Board - which will be responsible for the governance and organisation.
• Corporate Spine – will provide support to all of the organisations and functions will be overseen by a Chief Executive Officer.

Details in respect of case processing timelines for large and small scale residential developments and staffing and recruitment are an operational matter for An Bord Pleanála. Accordingly, the information requested is not held by my Department. Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of this 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.