Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Kelly mentioned the issue of enforcement by local authorities. On certain projects, once an enforcement notice has been given, there is a statutory time within which you have to reply to it. If you reply to a statutory notice arising from an enforcement, once you open communications, it then goes to the local authority. In cases where an enforcement is sent out and somebody is late replying within ten days or whatever, and if the paperwork is correct, is there something that can stop enforcement proceedings continuing? We had a case in Limerick recently that went on for two and a half years over paperwork that was submitted on time, but was not registered on time. We found it took two and a half years, with a lot of legal expenses, to correct a case. After two and a half years, it was struck out due to the enforcement regulations that were in place at the time.

For anyone who is building outside the regulations, and enforcement proceedings have started and are ongoing, that is fine. However, if it is the case that enforcement proceedings are put in place that are not warranted, is there a way of getting through this process and not delaying projects for a year or two years over something that was overlooked, or something that came in and was not addressed at the time? Much of this is to do with staffing levels in local authorities. The staffing is not there to meet the demands of enforcement, which means a lot of enforcement is not carried through on time. It is causing issues, especially within the Limerick local authority where we have seen it. Local authorities need more staff and more people to deal with enforcement but they also need to be able to follow it through. In a case where paperwork is not in the right place on time, they also need to be able to stop the proceedings and to have an opt-out.