Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 261: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the statutory basis, including SI article reference, for the requirement to have planning permission to have a footpath dished; when the need for such a provision was last reviewed; his intentions to ease this requirement under certain conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12259/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The maintenance and improvement of public roads, including modifications to associated public footpaths, would normally be a matter for the relevant roads authority and not for private householders.

Works relating to private roads or footpaths, or to public footpaths in the context of private development, in principle require planning permission. Certain classes of development are however exempted from the requirement of planning permission. These exemptions were revised and updated in the Planning and Development Regulations 2001(S.I. 600 of 2001).

Under class 6, schedule 2, Part 1 of the 2001 Regulations, the provision of a hard surface within the curtilage of a house is exempt from the requirement to obtain planning permission, subject to certain conditions. However, this exemption would not extend to the dishing of the pavement for access to the property, or the widening of a gateway. Given the potential implications of such works for road safety, neighbouring properties or the appearance of a street, the requirements of the current Regulations, which have been endorsed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, are considered reasonable and appropriate.