Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 622: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the extent to which planning guidelines and regulations allow a planning officer, when considering a planning application, factor in the previous history of an applicant in respect of non-compliance with enforcement orders and a reliance on retention permissions; and his views on updating regulations to strengthen the hand of local authorities in this regard or to be more prescriptive in terms of when and the circumstances under which permission may be granted to an applicant with a poor planning history. [14842/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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. 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.

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.