The establishment of an Office of Planning Enforcement was endorsed at the PD conference on Friday night.

Among the roles envisaged for the office would be to record all breaches of planning permission, from low-level private construction to large commercial projects.

The motion to support the establishment of an office to enforce planning regulations was passed by conference delegates, having been put forward by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown councillor Victor Boyhan.

The office would also enforce decisions made by An Bord Pleanala. There are currently over 2,500 live enforcement files with An Bord Pleanala, and Boyhan claimed an outside agency should be handed responsibility to enforce the decisions.

As it stands, An Bord Pleanala can't enforce its own decisions, but must wait for local authorities to do so, " he said. The fact that there are over 2,500 decisions waiting to be enforced shows that it is an absolute nonsense that An Bord Pleanala cannot enforce its own decisions." The new office should be able to set financial penalties for breaches of planning law, he added.