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The Journal
2 days ago
- Business
- The Journal
Renaming An Bord Pleanála - and letting everyone know - has cost €77,000
THE RENAMING OF An Bord Pleanála to An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) has cost the State planning watchdog nearly €77,000. New figures provided by An Coimisiún Pleanála show that the renaming has cost the State's flagship planning agency €76,921. The largest component is a €22,045 spend on the installation of external signage over its entrance and two corner projection signs with the new name at the agency's Marlborough Street HQ in Dublin 1. The €76,921 outlay also included a spend of €18,450 on architect consultancy which provided design, coordination and project management services for internal ground floor signs and external signage. The spend also included €18,450 on a radio ad campaign, €5,380 on a new sign installation cancellation fee, €6,363 on newspaper notices and €3,637 on the change of name on the corporate seal and rubber stamps. Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin today described the spend as 'completely unnecessary as there was no need to change the name of An Bord Pleanála'. When first mooted in 2023 in wake of scandals at An Bord Pleanála, trade union FORSA expressed its opposition to plans to change the name as it would amount to a 'collective punishment'. Advertisement In correspondence with then Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien, assistant general secretary at FORSA, Ian McDonnell said that the Forsa branch within An Bord Pleanála had passed a motion 'expressing their opposition to this proposed name change'. 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'. Ó Broin said that as a member of the Oireachtas Housing Committee he tabled an amendment to the then Planning and Development Bill to have the name of An Bord Pleanala retained but this was rejected by Government. Asked about staff's attitude to the name change, a spokesman for An Coimisiún Pleanála today said: 'In terms of staff feeling on the name change, while there was some unhappiness about the changing of the name when it was first suggested in early 2023, now the name change has taken place, the staff and planning commissioners of the Commission have embraced and accepted the name change. He stated that 'good developments are built on solid foundations and An Coimisiún Pleanála is built on the most solid of foundations which is down to the part played by all former staff and Board members who have served with An Bord Pleanála over the last 48 years'. As part of the bid to reduce backlog in appeals, the number of senior planning inspectors at An Coimisiún Pleanála totals 60 at the end of June 2025 compared to 45 at the end of December 2023. The appeals board now has two Directors of Planning while the number of planning inspectors has reduced from 39 at the end of last year to 35 now though five new appointees are due to start in July and August. The most recent quarterly figures show that the number of cases on hand at the end of March this year was 1,369, which was down 39% on the 2,247 cases on hand at the end of March 2024.
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Staggering 5-figure sum forked out over ‘completely unnecessary' renaming of State's planning watchdog after scandals
THE contentious renaming of An Bord Pleanala to An Coimisiun Pleanala has cost just under €77,000. New figures provided by the State's planning watchdog show an outlay of €22,045 on new signage. 2 The €76,921 outlay also included a spend of €18,450 on architect consultancy Credit: Getty Images - Getty This includes an external over-entrance sign and two corner projection signs with the new name at the agency's Marlborough Street HQ in The €76,921 outlay also included a spend of €18,450 on architect consultancy which provided design, coordination and project management services for internal ground floor signs and external signage. The spend also included €18,450 on a radio ad campaign; €5,380 on a new sign installation cancellation fee; €6,363 on newspaper notices and €3,637 on the change of name on the corporate seal and rubber stamps. Read more in News When first mooted in 2023 in the wake of scandals at the agency, trade union Forsa opposed plans to change the name as it would amount to a 'collective punishment'. In correspondence with then Housing Minister McDonnell said that the proposed change 'reflects negatively on all who work in the organisation' and is akin to 'collective punishment of all (past and present) in the organisation. O Broin said that as a member of the Oireachtas Housing Committee he tabled an amendment to the then Planning and Development Bill to have the name of An Bord Pleanala retained but this was rejected by Government. Most read in Irish News Asked about staff's attitude to the name change, a spokesman for An Coimisiun Pleanala said: 'In terms of staff feeling on the name change, while there was some unhappiness about the changing of the name when it was first suggested in early 2023, now the name change has taken place, the staff and planning commissioners of the Commission have embraced and accepted the name change." He stated that 'good developments are built on solid foundations and An Coimisiun Pleanala is built on the most solid of foundations, which is down to the part played by all former staff and Board members who have served with An Bord Pleanala over the last 48 years'. REDUCING BACKLOG As part of the bid to reduce the backlog in appeals, the number of senior planning inspectors at An Coimisiun Pleanala totals 60 at the end of June 2025 compared to 45 at the end of December 2023. The appeals board now has two Directors of Planning while the number of planning inspectors has reduced from 39 at the end of last year to 35 now though five new appointees are due to start in July and August. The most recent quarterly figures show that the number of cases on hand at the end of March this year was 1,369 which was down 878 or 39 per cent on the 2,247 cases on hand at the end of March 2024. 2 Renaming An Bord Pleanala to An Coimisiun Pleanala cost just under €77,000 Credit: Getty Images - Getty
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Renaming of An Bord Pleanála cost €77,000
The contentious renaming of An Bord Pleanála to An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) has cost the State planning watchdog just under €77,000. New figures provided by An Coimisiún Pleanála show that the renaming has cost the State's flagship planning agency €76,921 and the largest component is a €22,045 spend on the installation of external over entrance signage and two corner projection signs with the new name at the agency's Marlborough Street HQ in Dublin 1. The €76,921 outlay also included a spend of €18,450 on architect consultancy which provided design, coordination and project management services for internal ground floor signs and external signage. The spend also included €18,450 on a radio ad campaign; €5,380 on a new sign installation cancellation fee; €6,363 on newspaper notices and €3,637 on the change of name on the corporate seal and rubber stamps. Sinn Fein Housing spokesman, Eoin Ó Broin today described the spend as "completely unnecessary as there was no need to change the name of An Bord Pleanála". When first mooted in 2023 in wake of scandals at the then An Bord Pleanála, trade union, FORSA expressed its opposition to plans to change the name as it would amount to a "collective punishment". In correspondence with then Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien, assistant general secretary at FORSA, Ian McDonnell said that the Forsa branch within An Bord Pleanála had 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". Deputy Ó Broin said that as a member of the Oireachtas Housing Committee he tabled an amendment to the then Planning and Development Bill to have the name of An Bord Pleanala retained but this was rejected by Government. Asked about staff's attitude to the name change, a spokesman for An Coimisiún Pleanála today said: "In terms of staff feeling on the name change, while there was some unhappiness about the changing of the name when it was first suggested in early 2023, now the name change has taken place, the staff and planning commissioners of the Commission have embraced and accepted the name change. He stated that "good developments are built on solid foundations and An Coimisiún Pleanála is built on the most solid of foundations which is down to the part played by all former staff and Board members who have served with An Bord Pleanála over the last 48 years". As part of the bid to reduce backlog in appeals, the number of senior planning inspectors at An Coimisiún Pleanála totals 60 at the end of June 2025 compared to 45 at the end of December 2023. The appeals board now has two Directors of Planning while the number of planning inspectors has reduced from 39 at the end of last year to 35 now though five new appointees are due to start in July and August. The most recent quarterly figures show that the number of cases on hand at the end of March this year was 1,369 which was down 878 or 39pc on the 2,247 cases on hand at the end of March 2024.
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Local authorities failing to meet social housing targets as worst offenders named amid Cabinet meeting over homes crisis
LOCAL authorities are failing to meet their social housing targets with Dublin City Council, Donegal, Sligo and Galway City among the worst offenders, the Cabinet will be told today. Our city and county councils are relying significantly on Approved Housing Bodies to carry out the bulk of their building instead of building social homes directly themselves. 2 Housing Minister James Browne will brief Ministers on a league table-style document Credit: Brian Lawless/PA Wire For example, Instead, the City Council relied on approved housing bodies and other methods to obtain 937 social homes last year. Despite this, Housing Minister James Browne will today brief Ministers on a new league table-style document analysing each local authority's output when it comes to building homes for social housing. Read more in News The table, seen by the Irish Sun, shows that almost half of local authorities failed to hit their social housing targets over the past three years. When 2022, 2023 and 2024 are taken together – Dublin City Council is the second worst performer on social housing with 2,344 social homes provided over the last three years – just 49 per cent of their target of 4,800. Most read in Irish News In total, local authorities had a target to build 27,400 social homes over the past three years but only 5,065 were directly built by local authorities. WORST PERFORMERS Instead, 18,320 homes were built through approved housing bodies and other methods. When it comes to council's directly building their own social housing, Dublin City Council was the worst performer last year followed by Minister Browne will publish this league table data today as he aims to ensure transparency and accountability across all levels on housing. This social housing data is part of a series of housing memos that the Minister will bring to Cabinet today. The Minister will bring forward a plan to create standardised social housing with the same plans being used in different developments across the country to speed up the process. Ministers will also be told about plans to bring a Planning and Development Bill to try to unlock developments that have been held up in the planning system and risk running out of date. 2 Local authorities are failing to meet their social housing targets Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
League table of best social home building councils to be discussed by Cabinet
Local authorities will be named and shamed for not building enough social homes under plans to be discussed by Cabinet this Tuesday morning. It is understood that Housing Minister James Browne will request the Government to note local authorities' new build social housing outputs against the Housing for All plan targets at Cabinet. It is expected that the Government will consider two sets of data. This includes local authorities who are delivering above their overall social housing build targets as well as the delivery of social housing via their own construction of social housing on local authority land. The release of this type of data is aimed at "ensuring and increasing transparency and accountability at all levels", sources said on Monday evening. Some 14 out of 31 local authorities exceeded their social housing targets when all new build delivery is considered. This includes Local Authority Builds, turnkeys, approved housing body builds and turnkeys and Part V delivery between 2022 and 2024. Donegal was the worst performer delivering just 46 per cent of its target. This was followed by Dublin City Council (49 per cent), Sligo (55 per cent), Galway County (58 per cent), Longford (64 per cent), Fingal (67 per cent) and Cork County (70 per cent). When only local authority "own build" social homes are counted, no local authority hit their targets. The highest performer between 2022 and 2024 was Leitrim, who hit just 45 per cent of its target. Louth was the weakest performer, hitting just 4 per cent of its social home target. This was followed by Cork County (8 per cent), Sligo (10 per cent), Dun Laoghaire Rathdown (10 per cent), Longford (11 per cent), Galway City (11 per cent) and Dublin City (11 per cent). The Programme for Government commits to building on average 12,000 new social homes per year. However, it has repeatedly missed this target. Minister Browne will also bring a memo to Cabinet aimed at speeding up the delivery of social homes across the country and "reducing bureaucracy" during the approvals process. He plans to simplify the current four-step approval process into one, with the Department of Housing focusing on encouraging the use of modern construction methods. It is expected that the single-stage approval process will become operational in the third quarter of this year. Minister Browne will mandate the use of specific design layouts and specifications for all new build social housing projects. He will also bring a further memo of the Planning and Development Bill to Cabinet for approval to extend planning permissions for homes due to expire shortly that have not yet been commenced due to Judicial Review delays. Meanwhile, Tánaiste and Trade Minister Simon Harris will tell Cabinet that there is "positive momentum" in EU-US trade talks, but that 10 per cent baseline tariffs in some sectors will pose challenges for the Irish economy and businesses. There is just one week to go until the end of US President Donald Trump's 90-day tariff pause on July 9. He will tell colleagues of a growing belief at an EU level that an agreement can be reached within the narrow timeframe on an outline deal. This, he will say, will require further negotiation and discussion both between EU-US, and within the EU-27. He will say that any deal will have to be assessed against what exclusions from a baseline 10 per cent tariff can be secured, including scope for zero-for-zero arrangements for key sectors, as well as clarity on the outcome of the Sector 232 investigations, including on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and aviation. The Tánaiste will also this week chair a meeting of the Government Trade Forum on Wednesday and will travel to Berlin on Friday to meet with his German counterpart. In a speech to be delivered later today at an event marking exactly one year until Ireland takes up the EU Presidency in the second half of 2026, the Tánaiste will say that the ongoing trade talks "will fundamentally alter the Union's relationship with the United States". He is due to say: "We remain hopeful of a deal but whatever the outcome, it is clear tariffs will remain a feature of the geopolitical trading arrangements. Europe has stood tall together and this has been essential in ensuring we get the best possible outcome. "But there is nobody standing here today that can predict what will happen next week with certainty."
