asked the Minister for Local Government the reasons why in the exercise of his functions under the Town and Regional Planning Acts, referred to in a reply of the 5th April, 1960, with reference to the erection of two bungalows at Corbawn Lane, Shankill, County Dublin, he gave special permission for the building of the bungalows in view of the fact that permission to build them had been refused by the Dublin County Council.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Shankill Bungalows: Permission to Build.
33.
Mr. Ryan
In this Question the Deputy again invites me to explain the decision referred to in my previous reply by reference to the same consideration mentioned in his previous question, namely, the fact that permission had been refused by the Dublin County Council. This could imply that the Deputy considers that I should not exercise my functions as appellate authority under the Planning Acts to overrule a decision of a planning authority. This would, of course, be contrary to both law and justice. In any event, I wish to make it clear that I cannot be expected to explain my decision on an appeal by reference solely to the part played by one of the parties, which gave rise to the appeal. On the other hand, I do not feel obliged to go outside the scope of the Deputy's Question and detail the merits of the case made on behalf of the other party to the appeal, who is a private individual. It is not the practice to disclose publicly the reasons for decisions on appeals affecting private individuals or conflicting private interests. However, I feel at liberty to inform the Deputy that, in the course of my consideration of this case, it came to my notice that the County Council's decision was based on a misunderstanding. When the Council's attention was drawn to this, they intimated that they had no objection to my deciding the case in favour of the appellant and giving him the special permission.