Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 219: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if all planning conditions will be enforced by law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42954/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The enforcement of planning control is a matter for individual planning authorities, which have substantial enforcement powers under the Planning and Development Acts. This legislation places clear obligations on planning authorities in relation to unauthorised development. A planning authority must issue a warning letter in relation to written complaints regarding unauthorised development, or other unauthorised development it becomes aware of (except in the case of trivial or minor development). The authority must then make appropriate investigations expeditiously to decide whether an enforcement notice should be issued. The planning authority's decision in this regard must be entered on the planning register and, in cases where it is decided not to issue an enforcement notice, any complainant must be informed.

An enforcement notice may be served in respect of an unauthorised development, requiring such steps as the authority considers necessary to be taken within a specified period, including where appropriate the removal, demolition or alteration of any structure, the discontinuance of any use and, as far as is practical, the restoration of land to its condition prior to the unauthorised development. In the event of non-compliance, a planning authority may itself take the specified steps and recover the expense incurred in doing so. A planning authority may also seek a court order requiring any particular action to be undertaken or not to be undertaken.

The Planning and Development Act 2000 gave substantial additional powers to planning authorities in the area of enforcement. For example, the Act provided for the first time that the making of an application for retention permission could no longer be used as a defence against a prosecution for unauthorised development. These enforcement powers were further strengthened in the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006, which allowed planning authorities to refuse to grant planning permission, without recourse to the High Court, to any developer who has substantially failed to comply with a previous planning permission. An applicant who wishes to have such a decision overturned will have to apply to the High Court.

While I am satisfied that planning authorities have substantial and adequate powers of enforcement, I am aware of concerns about the effectiveness of enforcement and I will continue to keep the operation of Part VIII of the 2000 Act under scrutiny to ensure its effective implementation.