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

Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he/she is responsible. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of local government sector employment levels. To this end, my Department gathers aggregate quarterly data on staff numbers in each local authority on a whole time equivalent basis.

However, granular data, in terms of the detailed breakdown of the numbers and grades of staff allocated to specific work areas within local authorities is not collected and consequently is not available in my Department. The relevant information would be available from each local authority.

My Department is currently working on a number of measures to increase staffing levels in the local government planning sector. The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) submitted a report entitled Business Case for Resources for the Planning Function of Local Authorities in 2022 which identified a shortfall of 541 staff in local authority planning services at that time. Further to the submission of the report, the Department is working in conjunction with the LGMA on a programme of support to provide planning authorities, on a phased basis, with the requisite level of staffing resources and expertise to efficiently and effectively perform their planning functions.

In this regard, my Department wrote to planning authorities in October 2023 conveying approval to the filling of an initial 100 posts in the local authority planning service under the first tranche of the program. Engagement is ongoing with the local government sector on the scope of further tranches. €8 million has been allocated in Budget 2024 specifically for additional planning recruitment and training at local authority level. This will support the filling of the 100 posts and will also enable the establishment of a sustainable pipeline of planning resource provision. Engagement is ongoing with the local government sector on the scope of further tranches.