Fewer than two-thirds of An Bord Pleanala's decisions on planning appeals are now being made within the statutory four-month period because of the huge increase in construction sector activity.
The intake of cases in 1998, estimated at 4,500, represents a 69 per cent increase on the annual average intake during the period 1986 to 1995, and is also 15 per cent higher than last year, according to the board's chairman, Mr Paddy O'Duffy.
He admitted that a graph showing a marked decline in the number of appeals being dealt with on time was "not a pretty picture", but said suggestions by the Construction Industry Federation that this had been suppressed could not be further from the truth.
"We've got nothing to hide," Mr O'Duffy said, adding that An Bord Pleanala was also co-operating fully with the Flood Tribunal and wished it every success. "If the board does not maintain the highest standards of honesty and impartiality we should all resign."
Speaking yesterday at a briefing to mark the publication of its 1997 annual report, he said the board appreciated the legislation introduced by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to increase the number of board members from six to nine.
Mr O'Duffy pointed out that staff numbers have risen from 65 at the end of 1995 to 83 at present, with a further eight now being recruited to cope with the extra workload. The board now has 30 planning inspectors and will soon have two more.
He also noted that third-party appeals had grown substantially from 29 per cent of all determined cases in 1992 to 39 per cent in 1997. Figures show the proportion of successful third-party appeals has also grown from just 21 per cent in 1992 to 32 per cent last year.
Mr O'Duffy said it was clear third-party appeals were "growing in popularity and are now very significant". However, as their success rate showed, he did not go along with the CIF view that a high proportion of these appeals were without substance or foundation.
He also pointed out that less than 8 per cent of all planning decisions made by local authorities are appealed to An Bord Pleanala, and most of these appeals are made by the applicants. Third-party appeals to the board account for just 2.2 per cent of all planning decisions.
Notable successes scored by third-party appellants include board decisions to refuse planning permission for houses on the coastline or in scenic inland areas as well as clusters of holiday homes in designated seaside resorts such as Kilkee and Lahinch, in Co Clare.
While An Bord Pleanala keeps a low profile because of its quasi-judicial role, Mr O'Duffy said he was anxious that there were still "a lot of misconceptions" about how it operated, and he stressed that all contentious cases were dealt with by the full board.
The number of oral hearings fell from 44 in 1996 to 37 last year, with two-thirds of all requests for such hearings refused. These decisions were made to expedite matters in cases where the board felt that it had sufficient documentary evidence to make a decision.
At the same time, Mr O'Duffy said the board "must be more open". As a further step to enhance its public accountability, all board decisions and planning inspectors' reports since April 1995 are to be made available on the board's website by next June.
