The number of planning appeals to An Bord Pleanala, which had been growing at 15 per cent a year over the past four years, has now reached a plateau, according to its chairman, Mr Paddy O'Duffy.
At a seminar in Dublin yesterday on the 1999 Planning and Development Bill, he said the board was confident delays in processing appeals should be eliminated "within the next four or five months".
Mr O'Duffy also emphasised An Bord Pleanala's independence. "In this era of planning tribunals, it is important to state that there is absolutely no political interference in the decisions made by the board," he declared.
Over the past five years, the board had made 15,000 decisions on planning appeals, of which 70 were challenged in the High Court and only four were quashed. This indicated the board was well aware of the law.
Mr O'Duffy also said that, following the appointment of additional staff, the board was confident it could deliver on the additional functions envisaged under the Planning Bill, including adjudication on road schemes.
Mr John O'Connor, assistant secretary of the Department of the Environment, said the Bill should be enacted by next Easter, including one of its most controversial provisions - the 20 per cent requirement for social housing.
Responding to criticisms from property interests, Mr O'Connor said this "cannot be defined as land-grabbing" because it was the zoning decisions made by local authorities which "multiplies the value of land in the first place".
Ms Mary Moylan, principal officer in the Department, said the obligation on local authorities to adopt housing strategies, setting out the forecast demand from all sectors, "should do away with controversy" over land rezoning.
Meanwhile, more than 60 community and environmental groups have signed a petition calling on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to drop new restrictions on public participation in the Planning Bill.
They object to its provisions for charging fees to make submissions on planning applications, restricting the right of appeal to those who had made submissions and limiting judicial review to those with a "substantial interest".
