Minister O'Brien announces increase in ordinary board members and appoints new full term Board Members to An Bord Pleanála
- Published on: 26 August 2024
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Darragh O’ Brien, T.D., Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, today (26 August, 2024) 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.”
Further Information
Increase in maximum number of ordinary board members
Section 104 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, provides for the temporary increase in the maximum number of ordinary board members that may be appointed to the Board of An Bord Pleanála by way of Ministerial Order.
Darragh O’ Brien, T.D., Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage signed the Planning and Development (Increase in maximum number of Ordinary Board Members of An Bord Pleanála) Order 2024, S.I. 414 of 2024, on 20 august 2024. This order will remain in effect until 1 January 2025.
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.
An Bord Pleanála have advised cases disposed of by the Board in 2024 to end June was 1865 cases, an increase of 76% from cases disposed in the same period for 2023.
As full term Board members and additional staffing resources come on stream, addressing the backlog with be accelerated, with the aim of restoring more ‘normal’ levels of operation by year end.
The challenges faced by the Board with regard to the capacity of An Board Pleanála and the pressures in terms of workload for the inspectorate to process decisions in a timely manner are acknowledged and in this regard, significant efforts have been made to facilitate additional board members and increases in staffing.
Since October 2021, the Department has agreed to 117 new staffing posts in An Bord Pleanála. As of 31 July 2024, 275 people are working in ABP (including Board Members). 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 at An Bord Pleanála to in excess of 50% since 2021.
Appointment of board members
The appointment of ordinary board members is governed by section 106 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the range of expertise and skills required to fill the role of Ordinary Board Member are provided for in the Act, as amended.
The role of the ordinary board member is to contribute to the delivery of high-quality decisions on planning appeals and applications in a timely manner and to oversee overall corporate governance of the organisation. The ordinary board member reports to the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Board.
A recruitment campaign, managed by the Public Appointments Service (PAS), commenced in October 2023. Following a shortlisting process and competitive interview, PAS provided the Minister with a list of candidates deemed suitable for appointment. Eight candidates, listed below, have now been appointed by the Minister, with further appointments possible in the near term.
The newly appointed board members have a vast range of experience throughout both the public and private sector in a range of disciplines including in planning, architecture, corporate services and legal affairs. They are:
• Mr. Declan Moore;
• Mr. Liam McGree;
• Ms. Marie O'Connor;
• Ms. Mary Gurrie;
• Ms. Mary Henchy;
• Ms. Mary Rose Mc Govern;
• Mr. Mick Long; and
• Mr. Paul Caprani;