A NEW INTERIM chairperson of An Bord Pleanála (ABP) has been appointed by the Government.

This morning, the Cabinet appointed Oonagh Buckley, the Deputy Secretary General at the Department of Justice to the planning body.

Buckley is set to be appointed to the role through the use of Ministerial powers to appoint a deputy chairperson under existing provisions of the Planning and Development Act, 2000.

The appointment of Buckley to the role comes just weeks after the former chairman of ABP, Dave Walsh, announced that he would be retiring early from the board.

Walsh had been chair of ABP for four years.

His retirement came at a turbulent time for the planning body, with controversy erupting over allegations of conflict of interest that lead to the resignation of the board’s deputy chairperson, Paul Hyde, in early July.

Hyde has denied all allegations made against him.

Buckley had been Deputy Secretary General at the Department of Justice since she was appointed in November 2018.

She has previously worked at a number of Government departments, including the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of the Environment and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

She was appointed as an adjunct Professor in Law at University College Cork in 2017.