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Some 17 farm buildings were instructed to be demolished and 121 were found to have been built without planning permission by county councils between 2013 and 2017.
County councils submitted the information in response to a Freedom of Information request from the Irish Farmers Journal.
Tipperary was found to have the highest number of farm buildings built without planning – 20 buildings, followed by Kerry with 14 and Mayo with 10.
Tipperary also had the highest number of buildings ordered to be taken down, with four buildings instructed to be demolished.
In a number of cases, councils reported that they had been “notified” by members of the public of sheds built without planning.
Investigations
Councils also stated that in some cases investigations were ongoing and warning letters had been issued.
Some councils indicated that enforcement and legal action had been paused as farmers sought a retention planning application.
“Enforcement was put on hold to allow for a retention planning application to be submitted on one of these files and the other remains at warning letter status,” a spokesperson for Meath County Council told the Irish Farmers Journal.
A retention planning application can cost three times as much as an ordinary planning permission application.
Some farmers can feel that planning permission is an unnecessary additional cost and hassle, with a four-bay suckler shed costing on average €65,000, excluding VAT, before planning.
Legal requirement
“Planning permission is a legal requirement – whether you are going for a grant or not you need planning [or an exemption from planning],” Dr Robert Leonard of the TAMS section of the Department of Agriculture said.
Some 44% of county councils refused to submit the numbers for various reasons, including that the information was not available.
The lack of information from almost half of councils indicates that the number of farm buildings built without planning permission is likely to be even higher if figures for every county were available for review.
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