An Bord Pleanála, the planning authority, encountered critical backlogs leading to drastically reduced decision rates last year. Despite significant resource boosts, merely a quarter of cases were settled within the set deadlines. The Department of Public Expenditure report revealed that decision rates saw more than a 50% reduction within a two-year span. In 2021, 57% of verdicts were given within the legal 18-week deadline. This figure slipped to 45% in 2022 and further dropped to a mere 25% in 2023.
The Public Service Performance Report unveiled that the processing number of significant infrastructure development cases, including energy assignments like wind farms, escalated from 2021 to 2022. Strategic infrastructure decisions recorded an increase from 69 in 2021 to 94 in 2022. However, the rate shockingly dropped to 29 in the following year.
On a brighter note, last year witnessed a rise in the number of approved home permissions to 41,225 from 34,177 in 2022. Despite the increase, the figure still remained lower than in 2021 when permissions granted reached 42,991 homes.
The planning agency has experienced the most severe turmoil in its existence over the past two years. Paul Hyde, the former deputy chairman, stepped down amidst serious governance issue allegations in July 2022. Mr Hyde was handed a suspended sentence last November for failing to disclose property interests related to his work.
At the close of 2022, the composition of the decision-making board for the organisation was reduced from nine to five members. Concurrently, staff numbers in the organisation markedly decreased, hindering its capacity to process permissions.
To remediate the situation, the organisation’s board numbers were ramped up to 15 by April 2023. Over two years ago, the green light was given to hire 117 staff, ballooning its team size to 313. To date, recruitment has only managed to take staffing numbers to 268, sustaining a staff deficit. Cian O’Callaghan, housing spokesperson for the Social Democrats, noted that this staff shortage was causing homes to be embroiled in planning bottlenecks at the board.
Despite commitments made, An Bord Pleanála continues to grapple with employee scarcity, leading to a protracted application processing time. As a result, numerous developmental locales capable of yielding thousands of residences are left unused unjustifiably.
Upon being questioned, the board admitted that the delays ensued due to problems encountered by the organisation in 2022.
As of April 2023, significant progress has been made by the 15 member board in tackling its current workload. The board is now striving to make notable reductions in the backlog throughout the upcoming year.
It is anticipated that the active hiring process will elevate the staff count to more than 300 within the ongoing year.