1773. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views that households in architectural conservation areas installed solar panels on the front of their home (details supplied); his views on regulations for exemptions, waivers, remissions or refunds for such persons to attain retention permissions for solar panels already installed; his plans to exempt those in ACA areas; if section 583 of the Planning Act can be used to provide no retention fee or a reduced retention fee, where cases of minor development was under reasonable reliance upon an apparent statutory planning exemption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61370/26]

My Department introduced new planning regulations in October 2022 that significantly enhanced existing provisions regarding planning exemptions for rooftop, wall-mounted and free-standing solar installations. There is now no rooftop limit on houses and new exemptions were also introduced for the erection of solar panels on apartments and certain non-domestic structures including hospitals, libraries and places of worship, subject to certain conditions and limitations. These provisions are considered to be an effective measure which have significantly assisted with the roll out of rooftop solar, particularly on the domestic level, and meeting climate targets in this regard.

However, the matter of solar exempted development and the potential impact on protected structures and Architectural Conservation Areas (ACAs) was a primary consideration of the Department in the development of these regulations. It remains the case that a development is not considered exempted development if it would materially affect the character of a protected structure or a building in an Architectural Conservation Area.

In respect of free-standing panels the regulations included a condition that “the placing or erection of any free-standing solar photo-voltaic or solar thermal collector installation within an Architectural Conservation Area shall only be exempted development if those works would not material affect the character of the area.”

Section 5 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (the “2000 Act”), as amended, allows for any person to apply to a planning authority to establish if a development is exempted within the meaning of the act. Section 57 of the 2000 Act allows for any person who is the owner or occupier of a protected structure to apply to a planning authority to establish what types of work would be considered to be materially affecting the character of the structure. It remains open to any person to seek planning permission, or as the case may be retention permission, for proposed development affecting a protected structure or ACA.

Furthermore any free-standing solar photo-voltaic or solar thermal collector installation placed or erected forward of the front wall of a house is not considered exempted development regardless of if that property is or is not in a Architectural Conservation Area.

Planning fees are set out in the Schedule 9 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001. My Department has no current plans to provide for reduced fees for applications for retention permission relating to the type of development specified.