Construction BUSINESS

The Irish Government has increased the number of members that may be appointed to the Board of An Bord Pleanála as board members appointed

Darragh O’ Brien, T.D., Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage today 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.

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 eight 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 eight board members every success in their new role.”

The eight candidates, listed below, have now been appointed by the Minister, with further appointments possible in the near term. 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;