IRELAND'S environment suffers because the local authority planning service is "chronically understaffed", according to a report published by the Irish Planning Institute.
The uneven service was "directly related" to the paucity of professionally qualified planners in many areas, the IPI report said.
According to the report only the Cork and Dublin local authorities had "properly staffed and structured" planning sections. Carlow and South Tipperary employ no professional planners.
The IPI shows that Cavan, Longford and Tipperary North County Councils as well as Limerick Corporation each employ one planner. Westmeath, Roscommon, Limerick, Leitrim, Laois and Kilkenny have only two.
The report shows town planners form less than 1 per cent of the staff of most local authorities. The IPI therefore argues that every county should have at least one planner at senior executive level.
But there is no evidence that the IPI's concerns have influenced the local government reform programme even though it would impose new planning functions on local authorities.
For example, the programme says it will be "essential" for them to use powers to make local area action plans in the context of urban renewal and local development. They would also have new responsibilities to protect architectural heritage.
It notes that local authorities processed over 4,000 planning applications last year, of which 9 per cent were refused. Their performance "varies considerably", with an average of 70 per cent of applications decided in the statutory two month period.
