Exempt Rural Activities
Temporary Use of Land
The temporary use of any land for the placing of any tent, campervan or caravan or the mooring of any boat, barge or other vessel used for the purpose of camping, is exempt subject to the following conditions;
- not more than one tent or camper van should be placed within 100 metres of any tent campervan or car van;
- no tent, campervan, car van or vessel shall remain on the land for a period more than 10 days;
- no tent, campervan, caravan or vessel shall be used for the storage, display, advertisement or sale of good for the purpose of any business.
They shall not be placed land within 50 metres of any public road, unless the road is enclosed by a wall, bank or hedge or any combination thereof, having a height of not less than 1.5 metres.
The temporary use of land by a scouting organisation is exempt. It shall not be used for such purposes for any period or periods, exceeding 30 days in a year.
Reclamation
Land reclamation development consisting of the carrying out on land which is used only for the purpose of agriculture or forestry of any of the following is exempt;
- field drainage, land reclamation, removal of fences or improvement of existing fences;
- improvement of hill grazing, reclamation of estuarine marsh land or callows where their preservation is not an objective of the development plan for the area.
Land reclamation works (other than reclamation of wetlands) consisting of re-contouring of land, including infilling of soil (but not waste material) within a farm holding, is exempted development.
Development consisting of the carrying out of drainage and/or reclamation of wetlands is exempt if the area to be affected shall not exceed 0.1 hectares. Where development has been carried out within a farm holding under this class, the total area of any such development taken together with the area of any previous such development within the farm holding shall not exceed the limits set out in 1. above.
Roads
The following is exempt
- development consisting of the carrying out by the local authority or in partnership with another or another on behalf its behalf. of any works required for the construction of a new road for the maintenance or improvement of the road
- development consisting of the thinning, felling or replanting of trees, forests or woodlands or works ancillary to that development, but not including the replacement of broadleaf high forest by conifer species;
- development (other than development consisting of the provision of access to a national road within the meaning of the Roads Act 1993 ) that consists of the construction, maintenance or improvement of a road (other than a public road) that serves a forest or woodland, or works ancillary to such construction, maintenance or improvement; or works consisting of land reclamation or reclamation of estuarine marsh land and of callows,
Development is not deemed exempted if an environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment is required for it.The Minister may make regulations prescribing development a class of developments authorised or required to be authorised by means of a licence under statutes and in respect of which an environmental impact assessment is required to be deemed exempted.
Peat Extraction
Under the exempt development regulations made in respect of peat extraction in 2019 development comprising the extraction of peat of an area of more than 30 ha was exempt from planning permission, but requires a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency. The provision for EPA licensing was to be introduced over a period. In the meantime the High Court held that the exemption was inconsistent with the State’s obligations under the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive and the Habitats Directive.
Peat extraction in a new or extended area of less than 10 hectares is exempt. Peat extraction in new or extended area of 10 hectares where the drainage of the bogland commenced prior to the legislation is exempt. However, development in respect of which an environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment is required is not exempt development.
It has been decided that peat excavation comprises works and not just a use so that an environmental impact assessment and appropriate assessment was required. The Minister has power to designate as exempt works authorised by licence / consent approval under other statutes notwithstanding that an environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment is required.
Forestry
In defined rural areas development that is licensed or approved under section 6 of the Forestry Act 2014 (No. 31 of 2014) and that consists of the replacement of broadleaf high forest by conifer species in areas less than 10 hectares shall be exempted development for the purposes of the Act.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Marine acts as the single consenting authority, with EIA/and /or AA carried out pursuant to licensing processes under Section 6 of the Forestry Act 2014.
Initial afforestation is exempted development.
Development (other than the replacement of broadleaf high forest by conifer species) that is licensed or approved under section 6 of the Forestry Act 2014 (No. 31 of 2014) and that consists of
- the thinning, felling or replanting of trees, forests or woodlands, or
- works ancillary thereto, shall be exempted development.
Development (other than development consisting of the provision of access to a national road within the meaning of the Roads Act 1993 (No. 14 of 1993)) that is licensed or approved under section 6 of the Forestry Act 2014 (No. 31 of 2014) and that consists of –
- the construction, maintenance or improvement of a road (other than a public road within the said meaning), that serves a forest or woodland, or
- works ancillary thereto, shall be exempted development.
In areas other than a city, a town or an area specified development that is licensed or approved under section 6 of the Forestry Act 2014 (No. 31 of 2014) and that consists of the replacement of broadleaf high forest by conifer species in areas less than 10 hectares shall be exempted development for the purposes of the Act.
Drainage
Works specified in a drainage scheme confirmed by the Minister for Finance under the Arterial Drainage Acts carried out by, on behalf of, or in partnership with, the OPW, with such additions, omissions, variations and deviations or other works incidental thereto, as may be found necessary by the Commissioners or their agent or partner in the course of the works are exempted development.
The carrying out by the OPW, of works for maintenance and drainage by virtue of the Arterial Drainage Act is exempt.
Works consisting of field drainage for agriculture, other than drainage and/or reclamation of wetlands, is exempted development.
Works consisting of the removal for the purposes of agriculture of field boundaries including stone walls, clay banks or wire or post fences shall be exempted development.
The exemption does not apply in an area to which a special amenity area order relates.
Fisheries
Development consisting of the construction by the Fisheries Authority of a footbridge, fish pass, fish screen or barrier, walkway or fishing stand is exempt. The footbridge shall not exceed 1.2 metres in width or 8 metres in length. Any such walkway shall not exceed 1.2 metres in width and any fishing stand shall not exceed 10 square metres in area.
Aquaculture
The carrying out of development below the high water mark is accordance with a fishing license under Aquaculture legislation, is exempt. The reclamation of an area not exceeding 100 square metres of foreshore for the purpose of protecting a pier, slipway or other structure on the foreshore is exempt.