Appendix A - Circular Letter PD 4/05

Circular Letter PD 4/05

Charges for Photocopies of Planning documents

A Chara,

The Ombudsman has raised with this Department her concern regarding the level of fees being charged by planning authorities for photocopies of documents relating to planning applications.

On the basis of a survey carried out, the Department has determined that there is a large variation in practices in planning authorities as regards the method of calculation of charges for photocopies of planning documents.

Section 38(4) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 allows the charging of a fee "not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy". While this Department is not in a position to give a legal interpretation of the Act, it is our view that the reasonable cost of making a copy should include only the cost of actually making the copy and should not include the cost  of  searching  for and retrieving the document in question.  As the legislation envisages that documentation must be made available for inspection free of charge, it is reasonable to assume that the words  "the reasonable cost of making a copy" refer only to the cost of making the copy. Accordingly we consider that a reasonable charge would comprise no more than the cost of the paper and the costs of the copying machine such as toner, electricity, servicing and the cost of staff time spent in actually photocopying. It also follows from this that the charging of a minimum charge of e.g. €2-€5 for one page is not reasonable if this charge exceeds the actual cost of making the copy.

I would ask that planning authorities review their charging policy for copies  of planning documents in the light of the foregoing.

Mise, le meas

Marian O'Driscoll
Assistant Principal,
Planning Section

To: Directors of Planning Services, County and City Councils; Town Clerks