Brendan Ryan (Labour)

When the debate adjourned debate last week I was making a point about planning enforcement. I stated that when a planning application is granted with a number of conditions, condition No. 1 is always as follows from Fingal County Council:

The development to be carried out in its entirety in accordance with the plans, particulars, specifications, and information lodged with the application, save as by the other conditions attached hereto.

If only that were true because in many cases it is not. What if, as in many cases, the developer takes a chance and does something that he has not proposed in the hope of getting away with it? In many cases nobody notices and he gets away with it. What happens if a near neighbour notices? The process is that the matter should be reported to the planning enforcement section of the local authority. When a report and complaint are made, an inspector is sent out to investigate and write up a report. On foot of this report the enforcement officer makes a decision either to pursue the developer or issue warnings etc., which may result in the developer applying for retention. From the complainant's point of view this is positive as he or she can then lodge an objection to the retention application and may appeal to An Bord Pleanála if retention is granted by the local authority.

However, the enforcement officer may decide it is only a minor infringement requiring no action. This is a regular occurrence. There is no appeals mechanism available to a complainant in such circumstances and in those cases the developer gets away with it. I have observed the enforcement officer's decision may be influenced by a lack of staff. From his or her desk in the county hall it may appear to be a minor matter but it may be a very serious matter for the neighbours concerned. If the affected neighbours have not objected to the planning application in the first place, because in the absence of the infringement they had no difficulty with the application, they cannot appeal to An Bord Pleanála. Enforcement officers have too much power in this specific regard leaving the process open to abuse.

This matter must be addressed in the interest of democracy in the planning process. I have not yet decided how to address the issue but I may table an amendment on Committee Stage. Perhaps it should be open to anyone complaining about non-compliance with a planning condition and where an enforcement officer has rejected the complaint, to make an appeal to An Bord Pleanála. An amendment to the Bill might suffice.

I refer to a typical case with which I am familiar. The developer includes a specific proposal in a planning application. At additional information stage he is asked to remove it as it is not in keeping with the houses on either side. He does as he is requested by the planner and is subsequently given permission. He then goes ahead and does it anyway. The neighbours on either side complain but to no avail because the enforcement officer decides it is of no major significance. The complainants then have nowhere else to go. The planning law must be changed to allow some kind of an appeal in cases like this.

I ask the Minister of State and his officials to give serious consideration to this point. The Minister of State may not regard this as a significant issue but from my first-hand experience I know it is.