COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 12, 2011

QUESTION NO. 9

QUESTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

To ask the Manager to advise of the protocols in place to sensitively-manage the personal details of applicants and their families which are submitted as part of planning applications; and in particular to prevent members of the general public from accessing any sensitive personal data relating to applicants and their families through either the website or through viewing the file at the planning desk?

REPLY:

Under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) and the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (as amended), the Planning Authority is obliged to make publically available every current planning application and any documentation submitted by the applicant as part of the planning file with the exception of the contact details. It is Council policy to make all planning applications available for viewing on the Council's website. 

The following is included in the notes which accompany the planning application form;

"All documentation submitted with a planning application forms part of the application and will be included in both the hard copy of the file and the copy which is available on the Council’s website – www.sdcc.ie. Caution should therefore be exercised in submitting documentation with your planning application which you do not wish to have publicly available. In this regard and in the interests in Data Protection the following documents should not be submitted:  Certificates (Birth, Marriage, Death etc.);  Medical Records specifically detailing medical conditions/complaints;  financial details of any type which include account details (bank/building society/credit union/other statements or account nos.);   other personal documents e.g. Drivers Licences, phone statements, gas/electricity/other utility bills which may contain personal information. Where an applicant submits personal information (e.g. birth certificate) as part of their application these documents are not made available on the website but the Council is legally obliged to include them on the hard copy of the file which is available for public inspection at the planning counter."

While every effort is made to ensure that personal information such as birth certificates, medical records etc. are not included on the copy of the file which is available on the Council's website they must be included on the hard copy of the file and as indicated above, this is made clear to applicants at application stage.