A South Dublin homeowner is facing imprisonment or a €5,000 fine after being told to remove the external insulation installed on his home six years ago with the aid of a Government grant.
Clive Ryan spent €16,000 to have wraparound, external insulation installed on his home in Kilnamanagh in October 2018.
He received a €4,000 grant under the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) programme following completion of the works by registered One Stop Shop provider Churchfield Home Services.
The Programme for Government committed to ramping up its retrofitting targets to deliver more B2 Ber rated homes and to provide improved grants for homeowners who wish to enhance the energy efficiency of their homes.
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“This is something we got to reduce our bills, reduce our emissions, and add value to the house, that was the plan behind it,” Mr Ryan said.
He said he is very happy with the workmanship and his home is now easier to heat and his bills have been reduced. “You put the heat on for 20 minutes and the house is warm for three or four hours, I think it’s brilliant.”
However, Mr Ryan now regrets having any work done after being told by South Dublin County Council that the insulation does not meet planning requirements.
While he has applied for retention planning permission twice since first being alerted to this, his applications have come back as invalid, and he is now in the process of applying for a third time.*
In December 2024, six and a half years after having the work done, he received a letter from the council saying the insulation must be taken down or else he faces a €5,000 fine or imprisonment.
“If I had known this at the start I would have never gone near it,” Mr Ryan said. “It has knocked us for six.”
Under planning laws, maintenance and improvement works to homes which do not affect the external appearance are exempt from the requirement for planning permission.
However, in the case of external insulation, it is less clear.
In response to a parliamentary question from People Before Profit–Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, Minister for Housing James Browne said that whether planning permission is required for insulation is “dependent on a number of factors” and said homeowners need to engage with the local planning authority “on a case-by-case basis”.
The Minister has said this situation is to be reviewed as part of updating regulations.
Local People Before Profit Councillor Jess Spear said the issue “has caused anxiety and frustration” for Mr Ryan and his family.
“Is this really how we should respond to a homeowner reducing their emissions – tell them they have to take it down or the council will, and not only that but they could be fined and imprisoned?” she asked. “We should be facilitating people to insulate their homes, not putting up barriers.”
* This article was amended on March 3rd, 2025. The original version of the article referred to the earlier planning applications being refused.
