Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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456. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to provide the total number of full-time equivalent staff funded by his Department working in each local authority planning department and in An Bord Pleanála, in tabular form. [43102/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently working on a number of measures to increase staffing levels in the local government planning sector. In this regard, my Department is working in conjunction with the Local Government Management Agency on a programme of support to provide planning authorities, on a phased basis, with the requisite level of staffing resources and expertise to perform efficiently and effectively their planning functions.

My Department wrote to planning authorities in October 2023 conveying approval to the filling of an initial 100 posts, subsequently increased to 101 posts, in the local authority planning service under the first tranche of the program. Of these 101 posts, 80 positions have been filled to date, with the remainder expected to be filled by the end of the year (a breakdown of posts filled by local authority is provided in Table 1 below). Engagement is ongoing with the local government sector on the scope of further tranches, with sanction having recently been sought and expected for a further 112 planning posts for the sector.

It should be noted, that 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. It is a matter for each local authority to determine its own spending priorities, including taking account of payroll costs in the context of the annual budgetary process, having regard to both locally identified needs and available resources.

With regards to An Bord Pleanála (the Board), which 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, since October 2021, my Department has agreed to 117 new staffing posts. These are to provide for the efficient processing of cases before the Board. It is intended that when all the approved posts are filled, 313 people will be employed by the Board. There are currently 286 staff members, including Board Members, working in An Bord Pleanála (as provided in Table 2 below).

In addition, in recognition of the demands on the planning system Minister of State for Local Government and Planning Alan Dillon TD and I recently published a Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources. This Action Plan provides a detailed roadmap to increase the pool of planning and related expertise needed to ensure a planning system fit for future needs. It sets out 14 high-level actions that provide a coordinated pathway to ensure a sustainable pipeline of planning and related expertise into the future, addressing the areas of education, recruitment and retention, as well as measures to encourage greater innovation and efficiency. I secured funding in Budget 2025 to support delivery of the Action Plan and working groups will be formed in the coming weeks to progress grouped actions of the plan on a priority basis. A copy of the Action can be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: