Sir, - Your coverage of the third Bacon report and the Government's response (The Irish Times, June 16th) refers to vacant planning posts (107 out of a total of 350 in the country) and "planners leaving like lemmings" for more lucrative jobs in the private sector.
It was my understanding that a worse fate befell lemmings, but mixed messages are the order of the day when it comes to the position of professional planners in our local authorities.
On the one hand, qualified planners are very much in demand, what with the ongoing housing crisis, unprecedented development pressure and a constant stream of new and more complex planning guidelines and regulations. Demand will increase further when the Planning Bill is enacted later this year. The Government has sanctioned the creation of new entry-level planner posts and supports the expansion of third-level planning education.
On the other hand however, there has been a failure to create any permanent professional planner posts at senior planner level or above in our local authorities. There are only 20 such posts in the entire country, for which the minimum entry requirement is seven years' experience. None of these is located outside Dublin or Cork and incredibly, it is proposed to abolish four of the most senior posts at county and city planning officer level.
This process has already begun in south Dublin, where the county planning officer retired last February. In a rapidly developing county with a large population and many complex planning issues, 40 years of experience has effectively been replaced by a recent graduate.
With Government support, local government management propose to replace each of the county and city planning officer posts with a "director of services - planning" for which there is no requirement for a planning qualification.
Therein lies the mixed message. Planners are in greater demand than ever and the Government seeks to encourage people into the profession, yet it simultaneously supports an unprecedented downgrading of the position of planners in our local authorities. This is simply giving with one hand while taking more with the other.
In terms of necessary checks and balances, the ongoing tribunals serve as a reminder of the need for objective professional planning advice at local government management level.
It is my experience that local authority planners want to provide a more efficient and transparent public service, to raise the overall standard of development and to play their part in resolving the housing crisis. Providing a proper career structure for those who have gained the necessary skills and expertise to make a real difference is therefore essential. - Yours, etc.,
Paul Hogan, Castledawson, Rathcoffey Road, Maynooth, Co Kildare.