Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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598. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the present delay in deciding planning appeals by An Bord Pleanála including the percentage of cases where it is taking over four months to decide an appeal; the percentage where it is taking over one year, over two years and over three years to decide appeals; the progress made by him in the past four years to deal with this issue through legislation and the authorising of extra staff; the projected time it will take to ensure that all planning appeals are dealt with by the new An Coimisiún Pleanála within the statutory framework in the new legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44763/24]

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.

The information requested regarding timelines is not held by my Department as the determination of planning appeals is a matter for An Bord Pleanála. 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 .

There are now more people working at An Bord Pleanála than at any time previously. Since October 2021, I have agreed to 117 new staffing posts in the Board. The Board has received approval and sanction for a total of 313 posts to date.

The Board has advised that, as of 30 September 2024 there were 286 personnel, including Board Members. The Board has further advised that there are vacancies remaining from the sanctioned posts and existing posts due to resignations, and that these vacancies are at various stages of the recruitment process. It is intended that when all the approved posts are filled, over 300 people will be employed by the Board. This will represent an increase in the overall agreed staffing to in excess of 50% since before 2021.

With the increase in the number of Board members and, in conjunction with the significant increase in resourcing and the filling of these posts in a timely manner, An Bord Pleanála is working to address the backlog of cases that are currently awaiting a decision as quickly as possible. The Board has advised that cases disposed of in the nine months to end September 2024, was 2748, an increase of 24% on cases disposed in the same period for 2023. The Board has also advised that it is now running simultaneous board meetings, and it is expecting to hold board meetings in both the morning and evening to progress decision making on cases.

The newly enacted Planning and Development Act 2024 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).