NORTH Tipperary's local authority intends to request planning details from Mr Michael Lowry on the extension to his house at Holycross.
If the former minister and former councillor seeks permission to retain the construction, his case will be treated without prejudice as a normal planning application, the local authority told The Irish Times yesterday. Currently, it has no file under Mr Lowry's name, that of his wife, Catherine, or his company, Streamline Enterprises.
Retention applications constitute "normal practice" under the 1963 Planning Act and account for an average 9 per cent of monthly submissions in north Tipperary, according to recent records. If retention is not applied for within five years, and there is no legal action, planning permission is granted automatically.
Exemptions are allowed under Section 4 of the 1963 Planning Act if the work is internal and the building is not listed of the extension is 23 square metres or less and if the construction is attached to farm buildings and used for that particular purpose. Mr Lowry's residence at Holycross is not a listed building.
Fines for breaches of the planning acts range from up to £1,000 and/or six months' imprisonment for summary conviction, with a daily £200 fee, to up to £1 million and/or two years' imprisonment and a £10,000 daily fee on indictment. The only "penalty" involved in a retention application is a dearer application fee at £31.50 compared with £21 for planning permission.
Mr Risteard O Domhnaill, Tipperary (North Riding) county secretary, said the local authority did not know what Mr Lowry's development consisted of, other than what it had seen in newspaper reports. "At this stage, we will be asking him to submit details in the same way as any planning case - comes to our attention. We can make no further comment on the situation until these details are studied."
With only two planners to cover 775 square miles - until a third planner was appointed very recently - the local authority is unable to "police" the entire county. Unapproved buildings or extensions normally only come to its attention if there is a complaint, or if the house has come up for sale and the potential buyer wishes to check the papers.
Speaking on RTE yesterday, Mr Lowry said he had been advised by his architects that he did not need to look for planning approval for the extension, as an existing old building at the side of his house in Holycross had been demolished. He said he intended to ask his architects to examine the matter again.
