Dublin City Council's planning enforcement unit is expected to collect just €130,000 in fines relating to unauthorised developments next year despite operating costs for the unit of more than €2.6 million.
Council estimates show that the planning department intends to spend €2,677,240 on combating infringements of the planning laws in 2007. The enforcement section investigates reports of unauthorised developments and structures. It issues enforcement notices and can bring court proceedings which, if successful, lead to fines and/or demolition of offending buildings.
However, despite receiving more than 1,000 valid complaints each year, the department's income from enforcement charges is just €130,000.
Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan said that developers were ignoring regulations because they had little reason to believe that they would be caught or face significant fines. "Developers are holding the city to ransom because they have carte blanche to build in breach of our bylaws and regulations."
The planning department was forced to waste resources pursuing developers through the courts and this was costing the council millions, he claimed.
PD councillor Wendy Hederman said that the amount of money collected in fines was "paltry". Extra funds had been allocated to planning enforcement - up more than €200,000 from the budget of just over €2.4 million for this year. However, this was not adequate.
A council spokeswoman said that the enforcement budget covered the entire running of the unit, including wages, and it only received an income when fines were paid or a conviction was secured in the courts.
