Watchdog queries €4m planning bill

AN BORD PLEANÁLA paid €4m over two years to outside consultants to tackle a backlog in planning appeals, it emerged yesterday.

Almost 50% of the 4,500 cases dealt with last year were allocated to independent consultants. The consultants were paid an agreed fee of €416 for each per case.

Speaking at the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, yesterday An Bord Pleanála chairman, John O’Connor, said the board they had to contract out the work to clear the backlog of appeals.

The provisional cost of fees, paid to independent planners in 2002 was €2.4m while €1.6m was paid out in 2001.

Last year’s backlog has been cleared, although independent services will still be retained.

Responding to concerns about a conflict of interest, Mr O’Connor said all outside inspectors had to sign a declaration of interest.

“There is a very strict code of conduct. Any sniff of a suggestion that there may be of a conflict of interest that would be very dangerous to the integrity of the Board,” he said.

Much of the backlog built up as a result of through a reduction in productivity on the part of by the board’s planning inspectors.

According to a report last year, by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the output of planning inspectors fell from 120 reports per inspector person in 1995 to just 86 in 2000 and less than 50% of cases were dealt with before the statutory deadline of four months had passed. The high level of overturned planning decisions in some local authority areas was also questioned.

Mr O’Connor said the output of inspectors had continued to fall with last year’s output standing at 75 cases per inspector.

“There is an increase generally in the complexity of the work and also in the number of large developments has increased quite substantially,” he said, adding that some schemes involved thousands of individual houses.

Mr O’Connor said the situation was now very much under control with 80% of cases being dealt with on time. The average time for a completed appeal is now almost 16 weeks.

Addressing the committee, environmental group, An Taisce, questioned the quality of planning decisions saying the vast majority of decisions it had successfully challenged were overturned on public health or environmental grounds.

Responding, Mr O’Connor said an updated review of the service was pending.