asked the Minister for Local Government whether he is aware that perfectly sound houses are at present being demolished in Dublin; and whether he will consider the imposition of a stay on all such demolition because of the present housing shortage.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Demolition of Dublin Houses.
47.
Mr. O'Leary
I am aware that a number of houses in Dublin which have been demolished were previously in residential occupation and were suitable, or capable of being made suitable, for continuation of such use. Some of the houses are being replaced by alternative residential accommodation, such as flats while others are being replaced by commercial developments such as shops or office accommodation. I am not aware that any developer has demolished perfectly sound houses before obtaining at least outline permission for the redevelopment of the site and, for obvious reasons, he would be foolish to do so.
As indicated in my reply to a question by the Deputy on 1st March last, I have been examining the position. I am considering an amendment of the Regulations under the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, to bring the demolition of certain categories of buildings including houses under control. Meanwhile, Dublin Corporation at my request have been reviewing their zoning provisions so as to extend where practicable the areas zoned for residential use only.
Mr. O'Leary
I am glad the Minister is beginning to acknowledge that this problem exists in Dublin and proposes to amend the legislation in this respect, because in my constituency— and I am sure other Deputies can point to the same situation—perfectly sound residential houses are being taken over for commercial purposes and presumably outline permission is received from the corporation for their demolition. It is certainly a strange situation that there is a shortage of houses in Dublin and houses are being knocked down by commercial concerns——
The Deputy is not asking a question.
Mr. O'Leary
Can the Minister give an assurance to the House that he proposes to take action by amending this legislation?
First, I should like to underline what I have said, that is, that I am not aware that perfectly sound houses are being knocked down by developers without at least having outline permission.
Mr. O'Leary
I accept that; I said they appeared to get this outline permission.
It is not necessarily a matter that rests with me, whether they get that permission or not. In a case where they have got it from the local planning authority, unless there was an appeal by a third party, it would not come to me, so they are quite legally entitled subsequent to getting that outline permission, even where the house may be sound——
Would the Minister like to comment on the many instances where sound dwellings were demolished after the corporation had objected and the Minister overruled that objection and gave permission for demolition?
What the Deputy is trying to infer is that while the Minister carries responsibility for determining appeals, he may only determine those appeals in a manner that pleases the Deputy.
The Minister is trying to evade his responsibility.
No.
Mr. O'Leary
Another Minister invited members of this Party to visit his ranch at Raheny last year to look at his hens. I can issue a similar invitation to the Minister to come on a tour of my constituency which is being bulldozed.
Question No. 48.
Will the Minister give an assurance that where Dublin Corporation refuse permission to demolish dwellings, he will not give that permission? That would help.
I want to get this quite clear. Neither Dublin Corporation nor the Minister, under the present planning regulations, give express permission to demolish at all.
They do.
No; the situation is that they give, or I give, town planning permission for some construction. Naturally demolition follows, but it is not permission to demolish that we give.
If you are going to build skyscrapers, you have to demolish houses first.
(Interruptions.)
Mr. O'Leary
Some perfectly sound houses in my constituency are being undermined by a firm in the area.
It depends on who is interested and what is involved, and human happiness goes by the board.
Order.