Report detailing malpractice at An Bord Pleanála to undergo 'further investigation', delaying publication

The report, conducted by Lorna Lynch SC, was commissioned in December 2022 after a year of scandals and controversies at An Bord Pleanála. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

An investigation into malpractice carried out by a senior counsel and delivered to the chair of An Bord Pleanála last month is now to be the subject of further investigations before it can be published. 

The unprecedented move will involve “a small number of additional time-limited investigations” to be conducted “and/or on behalf of the chairperson”, according to the planning board. 

A process whereby an external investigation is conducted on behalf of a state body and then subjected to further probes by the chair of the body in question is highly unusual.

The report, conducted by Lorna Lynch SC, was commissioned in December 2022 after a year of scandals and controversies at the planning board. It was expected that it would be completed within six months but it was delayed repeatedly through no fault of Ms Lynch.

Last April, An Bord Pleanála chairman Peter Mullan told staff that the report was expected to be delivered within 10 days, but a series of legal threats ensued that delayed publication until August. 

Now, Mr Mullan has told staff in a circular that despite the protracted nature of the investigation and its completion by Ms Lynch, he needs to investigate some elements further.

“The chairperson has considered the scoping investigation report and engaged with An Bord Pleanála’s legal advisors,” Mr Mullan said in a circular which was subsequently posted on the board’s website. 

Arising from the report and further to legal advice, a small number of additional time-limited investigations are required in relation to specific elements of the report. These investigations will be conducted by and/or on behalf of the chairperson.

The circular says the new “investigations” will be completed by the end of October 2024 and no further comment would be made by the planning board. Should, as expected, a general election be called before completion of Mr Mullan’s investigations the prospect of senior planning board figures being called before an Oireachtas committee about the report will fade.

The new investigations are occurring nearly two years after three management figures in An Bord Pleanála compiled a report on malpractice. The board refused to publish that report but details within it, outlining numerous instances of malpractice, were published in the Irish Examiner. 

The terms of reference of the Lynch report were, to a large extent, concerned with going over the same ground as the management report. Now, it appears that publication of any account of the malpractices that rocked the board are to be further delayed.