By Chris Ashmore
Extra money is set to be put into Donegal County Council’s planning section in 2025 as it grapples to deal with an increasing workload.
End of year figures for 2024 are expected to reveal that the number of planning applications submitted to the Council rose by around 10 per cent on the previous year to pass the 2,300 mark.
This is the highest figure since 2021 (2,635 applications). The Council has allocated €2.3 million to run its planning services, and is in the process of recruiting staff to fill vacancies as well as looking at increased staffing levels to cope with the rising workload.
Since the national ePlanning Portal went live in January 2024 for the digital submission of planning applications, more than eight in ten applications received to date have been submitted via the portal, which has created efficiencies (less printing, scanning, postage costs, less storage needs etc).
However, it has also necessitated the refocusing of staffing to new processes required by ePlanning and gives rise to additional training needs and hardware and software fees.
Meanwhile, the local authority is forecast to spend in excess of €900,000 this year in relation to “enforcement activities”. This includes site investigations, preparation of cases for prosecution, issuing of warning letters, legal fees, the issuing of enforcement notices and prosecutions in court.
Donegal County Council’s anticipated income from planning fees this year is €650,000.
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