Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), all development, unless specifically exempted under the Act or associated Regulations, requires planning permission.

Section 4 of the Act and Schedule 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended (the Regulations), set out various exemptions from the requirement to obtain planning permission. Any such exemptions are subject to compliance with any general restrictions on exemptions set out in the Act or the Regulations and to the specific conditions set out in each class of exempted development in Schedule 2 of the Regulations.

Class 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the the Regulations) sets out the planning exemption provisions for house extensions, referred to as "development within the curtilage of a house", as follows:

“The extension of a house, by the construction or erection of an extension (including a conservatory) to the rear of the house or by the conversion for use as part of the house of any garage, store, shed or other similar structure attached to the rear or to the side of the house.”.

The use of the exemption is available to all houses whether occupied, vacant or derelict. However, the exemption is subject to a range of conditions and limitations set out in further detail in Class 1, which include factors such as:

- where the house has not been previously extended, the floor area of the extension shall not exceed 40sq;

- where the house is terraced, semi-detached or detached, the floor area of any such extension above ground level shall not exceed 12sq m;

- where the house is detached, the floor area of any such extension above ground level shall not exceed 20sq m;

- minimum requirements for the retention of private open space within the curtilage of the house;

- the proximity of the proposed extension, including windows, to adjoining boundaries etc.

Any development of this nature which falls outside of the Class 1 exemption and the conditions and limitations attached to it are subject to planning permission.

With regard to the minimum open space requirements referred to, the construction or erection of any such extension to the rear of the house must not reduce the area of private open space, reserved exclusively for the use of the occupants of the house, to the rear of the house to less than 25 square metres and this is not based on a percentage calculation.

There is a balance in providing for exemptions from planning permission, between streamlining the consent process for minor works and supporting proper planning and sustainable development, including the need to ensure adequate third party participation rights. The exemptions provided for in the Regulations are kept under regular review and I have no plans to amend the Class 1 exemption provisions in this regard at this time.

Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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278. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is aware of possible instances where the Sustainable Residential and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities policy may be in conflict for local authority development plans; if there are such conflicts, how can they be resolved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5491/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department issued the ‘Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ on 15 January 2024 under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (as amended). The provisions of the Guidelines apply to all planning decisions made after the Guidelines came into force.

The Guidelines set national planning policy and guidance in relation to the development of urban and rural settlements, with a focus on sustainable residential development and the creation of compact settlements. The Guidelines build on and update previous guidance to take account of current Government policy and economic, social and environmental considerations.

Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) provides that planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála shall have regard to the policies and objectives of the Guidelines and shall apply any specific planning policy requirements (SPPRs), in the performance of their functions.

The Guidelines include policies and objectives in relation to density, design and placemaking and public open space provision. They also contain national housing standards in the form of SPPRs in relation to separation between dwellings, privacy, private open space and car and cycle parking.

When making a decision in relation to a planning application, the Act requires a planning authority to have regard to the policies and objectives of the Guidelines. In cases where a policy and objective differs from the provisions of the development plan in force, the planning authority can decide to apply the ‘policies and objectives’, but will need to consider whether this would contravene materially an objective of the development plan. The planning authority is required to apply SPPRs even in cases where it would differ from the provisions of the development plan.

It is likely that a significant number of current adopted development plans allow for the application of the Guidelines, either in full or in part. In support of a plan-led system and to ensure consistency, planning authorities have been requested by Circular Letter (Circular Letter: NRUP 02/2024) to review their statutory development plans as soon as possible and to form a view as to whether the plan(s) is materially consistent with the policies and objectives of the Guidelines. Where a planning authority is of the view that there is a material inconsistency, the Circular Letter recommends that steps are taken to vary the statutory development plan to remove the inconsistency(s).