Renaming An Bord Pleanála is a collective punishment for employees, says trade union

Public sector union Forsa has objected to the rebrand. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Dublin

A trade union representing the employees of An Bord Pleanála has expressed its opposition to plans to change the body’s name as it would amount to a “collective punishment”.

Under the draft Planning and Development Bill 2022 recently launched by the Department of Housing, An Bord Pleanála would be rebranded as a commission named An Coimisiún Pleanála, with all board members replaced by commissioners with responsibility solely for ruling on planning applications.

That change is one of many which, should the legislation pass the Oireachtas, would affect An Bord Pleanála, which has experienced a torrid year of scandal culminating in the loss of both its chair and deputy chair.

However, public sector union Forsa has now objected to the rebrand.

In correspondence with Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, assistant general secretary with the union Ian McDonnell said that the Forsa branch within An Bord Pleanála has passed a motion “expressing their opposition to this proposed name change”.

Mr McDonnell said that the proposed chance “reflects negatively on all who work in the organisation” and is akin to “collective punishment of all (past and present) in the organisation who have worked and continue to work diligently and conscientiously in accordance with public sector values of impartiality and integrity”.

He asked that the minister “consider the views” of those employees with regard to the matter.

He added that to rebrand An Bord Pleanála may “involve significant and unnecessary expense”. Mr McDonnell said:

There is no need to change the name of An Bord Pleanála, indeed we understand that there is strong support within the houses of the Oireachtas for the organisation’s name and title to remain as is.” 

The issue of the name change has come up a number of times in recent weeks.

In its report on its pre legislative scrutiny of the controversial new planning bill, the Oireachtas housing committee suggested, in a report detailing 153 recommendations in total, that the new legislation should not rename An Bord Pleanála as it “has a unique identity and has been viewed as an independent, impartial and ethical organisation for almost half a century”.

Separately, the board’s interim chair Oonagh Buckley speculated at the Irish Planning Institute’s annual conference last month that when An Bord Pleanála rebrands it may keep its distinctive ‘P’ logo as a “cost-saving measure”.

“I think that compromise of keeping the nicely designed ‘P’ might help a little bit with staff because small things like that are important to staff. It’s symbolic,” she said.

Forsa’s objection meanwhile is not the first time the union has been to the fore regarding the goings on at An Bord Pleanála in recent times.

Last November, Mr McDonnell wrote to the then chair of An Bord Pleanála Dave Walsh criticising the chair’s refusal to make a damning internal review of the board’s practices available to Forsa members, adding that working conditions at the body had become “intolerable” for the union’s members as a result of the controversy surrounding alleged conflicts of interest at the board.

Mr Walsh took early retirement from his position later the same day.