To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail the target response times that are in place for his Department when (i) considering whether or not a planning application should be called in; and (ii) processing and deciding a planning application that has been called in.

Where a council is required to notify my Department in relation to a particular planning application, a council must not grant planning permission for the application before the expiry of a period of 28 days, from the date of notification. My Department has the power to extend this 28-day timeframe and, in practice, this can occur where an application is complex and where more time is required to decide whether or not the application warrants referral to it for determination. My Department also considers third party ‘call in’ requests, and whilst there is no legislative timeframe for a response, my Department assesses these requests, as well as all notified applications, as quickly as possible to ensure there are no unnecessary delays to the planning process.

The target for regionally significant applications is 30 weeks from validation to recommendation to the Minister. In terms of local and major applications, the statutory target is 15 and 30 weeks respectively. For called in applications, the date the application is called in by my Department is used instead of the date the application is deemed valid. Upon receipt of a called in application, my Department process these applications to a conclusion as expediently as possible.

I am committed to ensuring that our planning system operates in an efficient and effective way and my Department is continuing to work closely with local government and partners to improve current processes and the performance of our planning system.