Solicitor Mary Rose McGovern is one of eight new full-term board members appointed to the board of An Bord Pleanála (ABP).

The Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has also temporarily increased the maximum number of people who can be appointed to the board from 14 to 17 members.

The eight new board members, appointed after an open competition, will take up their positions from 2 September 2024.

They are:

• Declan Moore,
• Liam McGree,
• Marie O'Connor,
• Mary Gurrie,
• Mary Henchy,
• Mary Rose Mc Govern,
• Mick Long, and
• Paul Caprani.

‘Significant progress’

The appointments are aimed at further reducing a backlog of case files at the planning body that had built up in 2023, following a controversy over allegations of conflicts of interest in certain decisions that emerged in 2022.

The Department of Housing said that “significant progress” had been made in reducing the backlog of cases with a full complement of board members in place.

Figures from ABP show that it dealt with 1,865 cases in the first half of 2024 – an increase of 76% compared with the same period last year.

The new appointments are being made under section 104 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, which provides for the temporary increase in the maximum number of ordinary board members that may be appointed to the ABP board by a ministerial order.