IRELAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Diarmuid Mawe, Craig Kenny, Katelin Toomey and William Fogarty, Maples Group
4.5 Right of Appeal Against an Authority’s Decision
The warning letter must be served within six weeks of receiving a complaint and gives a developer up to four weeks to rectify or make a submission in respect of the issue. Any submission received from a developer or owner must be taken into account when decid - ing whether to serve an enforcement notice. An enforcement notice sets out the requirements of the local authority in order for the issue to be rectified by the developer/owner and contains a timeframe within which the work must be com - pleted. Non-compliance with an enforcement notice is an offence, and the local authority may institute legal proceedings in the District Court. In urgent cases, the local authority may apply to the Circuit or High Court for an order direct - ing that particular actions take place or cease, as the case may be. The statute of limitations applies to planning enforcement for unauthor - ised development. Typically, this means that the period during which enforcement action can be taken for breach of a condition of a planning per - mission is limited to seven years from the life of the planning permission (usually five years). 5. Investment Vehicles 5.1 Types of Entities Available to Investors to Hold Real Estate Assets Irish companies, non-Irish companies (such as companies incorporated in Luxembourg), limited partnerships, REITs and Irish-regulated funds are used by investors to acquire real estate assets. REITs A REIT is a type of public limited company (PLC) that must meet certain criteria; it will not be liable to corporation/income tax on its property rental income or profits, nor to capital gains tax on dis -
Anyone applying for planning permission or who has made written submissions or observations to the planning authority on a planning applica - tion can appeal a subsequent planning decision to the Bord; see 4.4 Obtaining Entitlements to Develop a New Project for further detail. 4.6 Agreements With Local or Governmental Authorities As outlined in 2.8 Permitted Uses of Real Estate Under Zoning or Planning Law , the 2002 Act enables local authorities to enter into PPP arrangements with the private sector. Types of PPPs include: • Design-Build-Finance-Maintain PPPs, which may be used to provide schools and similar infrastructure where the public sector has use of the asset but does not require the private partner to provide the service – for example, in the case of a school, the public sector employs the teaching staff; and • Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain PPPs, which may be used, for example, in the case of a water-treatment plant where the private sector staffs the plant to ensure service delivery on behalf of the public sector contractor. 4.7 Enforcement of Restrictions on Development and Designated Use The Planning Acts govern restrictions on devel - opment and permitted use. The procedure for planning offences is as follows: • issue a warning letter; • serve an enforcement notice; and • institute legal proceedings.
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