Housing Policy Dail Éireann — 2026-09-16 ============================================================ Frankie Feighan (FG), Sligo-Leitrim As with all new legislation, time must be given to allow for the operational implementation of the new measures across the 31 planning authorities. Where any individual has concerns about the use of any exemption, they can engage with the relevant planning authority prior to submitting their notification to use a class 3A exemption. It is a matter for the planning authority to investigate any concerns raised on a case-by-case basis and determine if enforcement proceedings are or are not required, as the case may be. Under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage "shall not exercise any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or [An Commission Pleanála] is or may be concerned." The Minister is specifically prevented from interfering in individual cases, which is most important to maintain the independence of the planning authority and the commission. I know the Deputy is not talking about any particular case but he has come up with some interesting views regarding existing sheds and greenhouses and how they may not be taken into consideration in the development of these modular homes, the size of the sites at 1.4 acres, and there not being enough space in housing estates. It is new legislation. I would say that a lot of the issues the Deputy has raised have been teased out, but I am happy to bring them back to the Minister and discuss them with him. I thank the Deputy for raising these important issues. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-16/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-16