Class 4 of the Second Schedule of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Regulations, 1994, provides that the erection of a wireless or television antenna on the roof of a dwelling house or the erection of a satellite television signal receiving antenna on or in the curtilage of a dwelling house is exempt from the requirement to obtain planning permission. This exemption is subject to certain conditions and limitations which include that: not more than one antenna can be erected on or within a dwelling house; the diameter of such antenna shall not exceed one metre; no such antenna shall be placed erected on or forward of the front wall of the dwelling house and no such antenna shall be erected on the front slope of the dwelling house or higher than the highest part of the roof of the dwelling house. The enforcement of these provisions is a matter for each planning authority.
Class 4 has been reviewed by my Department as part of an overall review of the exempted development regulations. New draft regulations have been prepared and sent on an informal basis to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment and Local Government. Oireachtas approval of the regulations is required and I hope to be in a position to make the regulations shortly with a view to bringing them into force early in the new year. The current regulations apply to satellite television signal receiving antenna while the draft regulations also include transmission antenna reflecting changing technology including interactive television and Internet services.