Darragh O’ Brien, T.D., Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has announced that he has temporarily increased the maximum number of ordinary board members that may be appointed to the Board of An Bord Pleanála from 14 to 17. This increase in membership will allow for the continued progress in the reduction of cases on hand within the Board.
Minister O’Brien has also today announced that he has appointed eight new full term ordinary board members to the Board of An Bord Pleanála, following an open recruitment process. The full term board members will take up their positions from 2 September 2024.
Following matters arising during the course of 2022, An Bord Pleanála has been under significant pressure in relation to resourcing, in particular at Board level. The impact of this reduction in the number of board members created a significant backlog of case files to be determined in 2023, and into this year.
Significant progress has been made in reducing the backlog of cases with a full complement of board members in place. This newly announced increase in the maximum number of Board members will allow for the continued support of temporary board members until year end to assist their newly appointed full term colleagues through the decision making process while they gain much needed experience in the role and knowledge of procedures.
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.
Commenting on the appointment, Minister O’Brien said:
“I am delighted to be in a position to appoint a number of new Board members to An Bord Pleanála on a full term basis and to increase the maximum number of board members to 17. The Board has been through a challenging period in recent times but, with the help of a number of temporary board members, the Board is now in a position of stability. With the increase in resources, including an increase in sanctioned staffing levels to 313, the decision making capacity of the Board has continued to steadily improve during 2024. With these 8 full term appointments now confirmed, I expect that trend of increased decision making will continue and that the primary focus of the Board will be on clearing the backlog in the short to medium term. I wish all 8 board members every success in their new role.”