THE University of Limerick (UL) has no plan B in place in the event that it is refused permission for 20 student homes in Rhebogue that were bought for millions of euro above the odds.
The 20 properties, which were bought for a total cost of €12.85million, were originally constructed as residential properties, with a question now hanging over whether the university is breaking planning rules by using them as student accommodation.
Limerick City and County Council issued a warning letter to UL saying that it does not have the correct planning permission to use the homes to accommodate students.
Appearing before a sitting of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this Thursday (October 3), a member of UL’s Governing Authority, John Field, told Wexford TD Verona Murphy that there is no plan b in place in the event the planning permission to use the Rhebogue houses for student accommodation is turned down.
The issue is currently before An Bord Pleanála to figure out if UL needs to apply for change of use, planning permission, or retention permission to continue using the houses for students.
Mr Field told the PAC that the university’s response to the planning challenge “raises a question of planning policy, and they (Limerick City and County Council) refer that to An Bord Pleanála, for a ruling as to whether the activity, the use those houses are put to, is in accordance with planning or not”.
“If An Bord Pleanála rule that it’s not in accordance with planning, the university will then have to submit a retention permission to regularise the planning. If An Bord Pleanála rule that the use is in accordance with the original planning, then we will have to take no further action.”
When asked by the PAC if there was a contingency in place for if the planning system is exhausted, Mr Field said that there was not.
