Dublin North East Labour T.D. Tommy Broughan has welcomed a new report from the Ombudsman Ms. Emily O’Reilly highlighting the charges levied on citizens by Local Authorities for photocopying planning documents.

Deputy Broughan said, "I would like to congratulate the Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly for another outstanding investigation and report. Emily O’Reilly has published a document which has highlighted the obstacles and excessive charges that ordinary citizens face when trying to get involved in the planning process and have a say in new developments which often greatly affect their local community."

Dublin City Council has no charge for 1-30 A4 pages, a €10 charge for 31-50 A4 pages, and €15 charge for 51-100 A4 pages. Each additional 100 pages is €15 and colour copies are €5 each. Fingal County Council charges 25 cent per A4 page, €2 per A4 drawing, €2.50 per A3 drawing, €5 per A2 drawing and €10 per each A1 drawing or larger. Other Local Authorities around Ireland have even higher minimum and other charges than Dublin City and Fingal County Councils including an astonishing €5 for a copy of the first page of an application in Galway County Council.

"A lot of planning applications have many maps and large drawings and this range of charges makes it very difficult for the general public who want to participate in the planning process when it affects their local community" said Deputy Broughan. "Often the quality of maps and photomontages is much lower when examining them on the web and it is necessary to see the hard copies to fully appreciate the potential impact of a planning application. Citizens also face a €20 charge for making a planning submission to the Local Authority (and fees ranging from €50 to €220 for submissions to An Bord Pleanala). In fact the suspicion remains that these charges are in place to deliberately discourage citizens from taking an interest in the planning process."

The Ombudsman reports that the "imposition of excessive charges for photocopying such documents can deter individuals from participating fully…(and) can also undermine public confidence in the openness and transparency of the planning system."

"I hope that Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council will respond positively to the Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly’s excellent new report and its criticisms of current planning practices. Both councils must now urgently review their policies of excessively charging citizens for accessing planning documents", concluded Deputy Broughan.