The Northern Ireland Environment Agency is taking up to 515 days to respond to planning consultations.
Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir was questioned about the situation by MLAs who described a “frustration that unites the chamber”, during questions for his department on Monday.
Mr Muir said the shortest and longest response times for planning consultations are the same day received, and 515 days respectively, adding the median response time is 11 days.
“The varying timeframe for consultation responses can be due to the complexity of the case and capacity within consultee teams,” he told MLAs.
“Additionally response times can be affected by poor quality consultations and insufficient information being provided from the outset, leading to requests for information and re-consultations, therefore the median response times of 11 days for all planning consultations across the last five years provides a better overall performance indicator.”
He added that his officials are committed to doing better, and there was an early indicator of improvement in performance.
“From April 1 this year my department has received 510 planning consultations, with 364 responded to, of these responses 99% have been responded to within statutory target,” he said.
“The outstanding cases are also on track to meet with a similar performance rate.
“Tackling the planning consultations outstanding from 2025 and 2026 remains a priority and my officials are taking forward targeted actions to secure steady and measurable reductions.
“To date 90% of applications received during the 2025/26 financial year have been responded to. My officials are hoping to clear all remaining outstanding consultations by the end of September of this year.”
DUP MLA Diane Dodds expressed “frustration” at the length of time that it takes significant planning applications with economic impact to get through the system.
Mr Muir said the planning improvement plan was in place, and that local councils have a role to play ensuring that quality planning applications are put forward.
“So we’re not having situations where some applications are being reconsulted by NIEA on perhaps six occasions, which is in no-one’s interests,” he added.
SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan described an area “that unites this House with frustration”, adding that it was creating huge frustration for his constituents.
Mr Muir said he had outlined how his department was focused on turning the situation around, but described resourcing as a “key issue”, and that it took seven months to get someone in the team into post.
