Mr Mullan will take up his post on 2 September when the current interim chairperson, Oonagh Buckley, moves to her new role as secretary general of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.

Mr Mullan joined the public service in 2012 following almost 20 years in private practice as a solicitor specialising in criminal law and litigation.

He was first appointed to An Bord Pleanála as a temporary board member in January 2023. Before taking up his role in An Bord Pleanála he was an assistant secretary in the Courts Service. In this role he had responsibility for Circuit and District Courts Operations.

Prior to that, he was an assistant secretary in the Department of Justice and Equality for a number of years and chief prosecution solicitor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Mr Mullan is a graduate of University College Dublin (UCD) where he completed a Law Degree (BCL) in 1984. He undertook a postgraduate diploma in social administration in UCD in 1985.