FORMER HEAD OF the HSE Paul Reid is expected to be named as the chairperson of An Coimisiún Pleanála, a new planning authority that will replace An Bord Pleanála. 

It is expected Housing Minister James Browne will bring a memo for information to cabinet to establish the new body.

Reid served as the Director General of the HSE from 2019 to 2022. He was chief executive of Fingal County Council from 2014 to 2019, and is a member of the board of Uisce Éireann. 

The body is being established in line with the phased commencement of the Planning and Development Act 2024, which was approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas in October last year. The Act essentially allows for the restructuring of An Bord Pleanála. 

The Act followed a review by the Office of the Planning Regulator in 2022 that found that the current planning body was in need of serious reform. Public confidence in An Bord Pleanála has been considerably diminished by a number of controversies and governance issues. 

The reformed and renamed body will have a new governing board, including a new chairperson, and will be subject to statutory mandatory timelines to give confidence and certainty to applicants.

In January of last year, Peter Mullan was appointed head of An Bord Pleanála for a term of seven years. It was expected that he would assume the role as head of An Coimisiún Pleanála.