"The gridlock in the planning system is threatening enterprise development and investment, and will have serious implications for our competitive position," Mr Kieran Crowley, chairman of the Small Firms Association, has warned. He accused the Government yesterday of failing to deliver on its commitment in Partnership 2000 to streamline the planning system.

He also called for the introduction of "a ministerial or public utility decree" to "cut through some of the tangles of red tape". Mr Crowley accepted that such legislation must be subject to "appropriate democratic safeguards".

He said such measures were necessary to meet the terms of Partnership 2000. The agreement "clearly recognised the need to streamline the planning system".

However, "considerable ground has actually been lost". Mr Crowley said that planning permission for priority road projects took up to six years, compared with three years in the rest of EU.

There had also been a 35 per cent increase in appeals to An Bord Pleanala in 1995-97. "In the same period the number of cases which were determined within four months, the period stipulated in the regulations for determining appeals, slipped from 98 per cent to 82 per cent."

There was now a danger that the "high and rising cost of accommodation will translate into higher labour costs and a loss of competitiveness".

While the SFA recognised the right of third parties to lodge objections to proposed developments, Mr Crowley said: "There is no reason why an efficient consultative appeals process on the one hand, and an open and democratic planning system on the other, should be mutually exclusive."

He put forward a plan to deal with the problem. Besides his proposal for the introduction of "a ministerial or public utility decree", he said the planning process should be streamlined by dealing with issues such as consultation, public inquiries and environmental impact studies "as early as possible in the project's life". If necessary, additional resources should be allocated to deal with bottlenecks in the system.

Finally, he suggested a fasttracking mechanism for key projects running behind schedule and a review of the compensation system. "An efficient planning system will help relieve the housing crisis, speed up the provision of roads, public transport and other infrastructural needs, and make Ireland a more effective place for investment."