Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I can give the Senator one bit of advice of further information about how many the system is designed for. What I can say is a similar situation arose in my constituency recently. Certain local people went to the local authority to find out the planning status of the house that was in question. It was a private house that had been done up and it was put up. Planning permission is required to do that because it is a change of use and second, these areas must have fire certificates for that purpose. On the basis of both of those, Laois County Council deemed that the particular house, which was a fine, old house that had been renovated, was not eligible under this scheme on the basis of fire regulations and planning. That is a suggestion, but I cannot comment on whether the contract is null and void. What I can say is the local authority has to be in a position to verify the suitability of that house from a planning and fire safety point of view if it is being used for a commercial purpose, which this transaction clearly is.