Note from Peter Mullan, the CEO Designate

Note from Peter Mullan, the CEO Designate

17 / 06 / 2025

I can confirm that the Minister signed the Commencement Order for Part 17 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 today. This means that tomorrow we become An Coimisiún Pleanála. We have been planning for this change for months and we are ready.

There will be governance changes with the establishment of an external Governing Board, chaired by Paul Reid, who is known for his public service over many years.

The Board members will become Planning Commissioners and will deal fulltime with decision making relating to all cases received by us.

I will become the Chief Executive Officer of the organisation and will no longer deal with planning cases.

While this is a profound change for me as I will no longer be a Board Member, I look forward to the challenge to leading An Coimisiún Pleanála as CEO.

All staff will continue to perform in their roles and the primary function of the organisation remains unchanged. We will continue to receive, process, assess and decide planning cases.

Tremendous work has been achieved in clearing the backlog and we will soon be delivering most of our decisions within the Statutory Objective Period for 2025 cases (80%+) well in advance of the introduction of the mandatory timelines proposed in the Planning and Development Act 2024.

Good developments are built on solid foundations, and An Coimisiún Pleanála is built on the most solid of foundations. I would like to acknowledge the role of all our colleagues who have served in An Bord Pleanála over the last 47 years. Through their public service they have made a significant contribution to the Irish planning system in those years. We owe these colleagues a debt of gratitude.

I would also like to emphasise that it is an exciting time to be working in the organisation. I am fully proud of everyone who works with us and helps make this an effective, well run, credible and respected public service organisation as we enter this new period.