Only one third of cases appealed to An Bord Pleanála are being determined within the 18 week time frame laid down in legislation, a situation a leading Galway TD has called unjustifiable and “totally unacceptable”.
Fianna Fáil Galway West TD and spokesperson on regional, rural, Gaeltacht, and island affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, is calling on Eoghan Murphy, Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government, to “take firm action” to ensure An Bord Pleanála adheres to the guidelines laid down in Section 126 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
During the period January to April 2018, ABP received 713 planning appeals. Of these, only 222 appeals were disposed of within 18 weeks. This means only 35 per cent of cases are being completed within the 18 week time frame.
Dep Ó Cuív has called this “totally unacceptable” and has alleged that “neither An Bord Pleanála nor Minister Murphy have been able to justify these delays”. He also went as far as to blame the loss of the Apple data centre in Athenry on these delays.
“Projects, both large and small scale are being held up as a result of An Bord Pleanála’s inability to adhere to its statutory obligations,” he said, “and the failure of Minister Murphy to either insist these targets be met, or to allocate the resources to help the Bord to meet them. I am urging Minister Murphy to take action to tackle these planning appeal delays.”
