Vol. 457 No. 8
109 Mr. S. Kenny asked the Minister for the Environment the action, if any, he can take in relation to the lack of planning enforcement by Fingal County Council regarding the unauthorised development at the Brickfield site, Seagrange Park, Dublin 13. [16457/95]
Section 31 (1) (a) of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 provides that, where any development, which is not exempted development, takes place without planning permission, the planning authority may and shall, if so directed by the Minister for the Environment, within five years of such development being carried out, serve a notice on the owner and occupier of the land requiring that the land be restored to its condition before the development took place. It has never been the practice for the Minister to issue such directions and I do not think that it would be appropriate for me to do so in this case. The enforcement of planning control is, essentially, a matter for the local planning authorities and complaints about lack of enforcement can be pursued with them, at official level or through the elected members.
