THE FIANNA FÁIL leader has said his party’s Junior Minister Niall Collins does not need to further clarify aspects of planning forms submitted to build a home in County Limerick in 2001.
Micheál Martin said that while “a lot of people are questioning” whether a document submitted to the council contained incorrect information on where Collins was living at the time, he claimed it was “not material” to the application.
The Tánaiste said there was “no question” that the Minister of State was entitled to seek planning permission on the basis that “the land was his father’s” and also on “the basis that he had lived” in the area before 1990 – as per the council’s planning requirements.
The document in question said he intended to move into the new home from his parents’ house despite Collins reportedly having bought a property in Dooradoyle two years earlier.
But Martin said Collins was eligible to build a home as he had lived with his parents prior to 1990, thereby making him eligible to build a home under the county’s development plan.
Collins defended himself against accusations the planning application was inaccurate in the Dáil yesterday, but questions continue to be posed over whether a document submitted to the council as part of the application contained incorrect information on where he was living at the time.
At the time of his application, Collins had been living with his wife in a property on Father Russell Road, Dooradoyle.
In the application itself, Collins states he had lived at his father’s Red House Hill address for 30 years (1971-2001). However, during his Dáil statement this evening, Collins did not state why this was listed as his address.
The Labour Party has said it will seek for the junior minister to be questioned in the Dáil on the planning application next week. Concerns have raised at the lack of a question and answer session for opposition TDs following yesterday’s statement.
Collins received backing from his party leader Tánaiste Micheál Martin who told The Journal today that he believes Collins residing in Dooradoyle was “not material to the application” to build a home.
“It seems to me from the evidence put before us – and I’ve read the county development plan for 1999, which covers the 2001 period – it’s pretty clear that he was entitled to planning,” Martin said during a visit to an army barracks in Kilkenny.
He said the development plan of the time “very specifically lays out the conditions” for whether someone could be eligible for housing in the area.
“From what I’ve seen in the documentation, there was no question but that he was entitled to seek planning permission on the basis that the land was his father’s and also on the basis that he had lived there before 1990. And that was the context of the question, ‘Where did you live or did you live in this area before 1990?,” Martin said.
He added: “Yes, a lot of people are questioning that one last piece about the two years, he lived 28 years, not 30, but it’s not material to the application. And you’re talking about 23 years ago now – it’s not material to the application.”
Martin added that the “fundamental point” was that a “clear impression” had been given that Collins was not entitled to the planning permission, which the Tánaiste said was false.
“I see as well the ad that was in the Limerick Leader and it was in the name of Niall Collins,” he added.
Planning
Questions around the planning application have arisen after news website The Ditch made a number of claims about a planning application submitted by the junior minister at the Department of Higher Education.
In his statement, Collins addressed the article, which he labelled as “misleading and inaccurate”.
In May 2001, Collins applied to Limerick County Council for planning permission for a two-storey house in Patrickswell, County Limerick on a site owned by his father.
In the application documents, which have been seen by The Journal, Collins lists Red House Hill, Patrickswell as the address.
He told the Dáil that he had met the criteria within the 1999 Limerick Development Plan to be able to build a house on this site, as he was the son of a long-term resident landowner alongside the fact that he had lived in the area prior to 1990.
Speaking this afternoon on RTÉ Radio One’s Drivetime, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that while Collins may have made an “honest mistake” over the planning form, it was important that he now address that.
She said the party would be seeking in the Dáil’s business committee next week for time to be put aside to question Collins on the matter and the “key question” as to “where he was living at the time the planning application was made”.
Contains reporting by Tadgh McNally
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say