Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 499: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will review the legislation regarding unauthorised developments. [7904/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Under the Planning Acts 2000-2006, all development, unless specifically exempted under the Acts or associated Regulations, requires planning permission. Any development that is carried out without planning permission, or that does not comply with the terms of a planning permission, is unauthorised development, and may be subject to enforcement action by a planning authority.

Part VIII of the Planning and Development Act 2000 sets out the existing statutory provisions for enforcement action by planning authorities in cases of breaches of the planning code. The 2000 Act also made a number of significant improvements to the enforcement provisions for persons who make complaints, in particular that all well-founded complaints must be investigated by the planning authority and that complainants must be told of the progress of their complaint. The 2000 Act also contains special provisions relating to certain issues that were difficult to address through the normal enforcement process, including applications by persons that have repeatedly breached previous planning permissions, unfinished housing estates and quarries. These provisions were further strengthened under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006. The Act contained an important amendment to section 35 of the Planning and Development 2000 Act, reversing the burden of proof where planning authorities decide to refuse to grant planning permission. Where previously the planning authority could only invoke this power with the consent of the High Court, they may now refuse permission on the basis of past non-compliance, leaving it up to the prospective developer to apply to the High Court to have such a decision overturned.

On the specific issue of unfinished estates, as indicated in reply to Question No on today's Order Paper, my Department has now issued updated policy guidance to planning authorities on the taking in charge of estates in the form of circular letter PD 1/08.

The above provisions set out a strong legal framework for planning authorities to take enforcement action where necessary. While I have no specific proposals for review, I will continue to keep the operation of Part VIII under scrutiny to ensure its effective operation.