homeowner in dublin being pursued over external insulation

Brick slips will be the good outcome I suspect.

SD24B/0584 / SD24B/0516

I have seen brick finish/cladding applied on top of new insulation, to match in with semi detached neighbour and looks well.

Worth noting it is not the installer of the EWI or the SEAI to advise or confirm if you need planning, its solely the responsibility of the home owner. One should never rely on a contractor to advise on planning issues, its not their area of expertise nor could you hold them in any way responsible because they told you its doesn't need planning. Not saying I agree with the council here but people need to be informed about their responsibility and get advice from suitably qualifed professionals.

As for the the retention applications, that 'sketch' is laughable.. again you need a level of professional competence (or to employ someone) to produce drawings and submit a correct application. Even seasoned professionals fall foul of invalid applications so a homeowner or contractor is fighting a loosing battle trying to wing it themselves with an application.

There's been no suggestion that he needs to do brick slips. It could potentially be granted as it, if they got the application together

I already said why. The government is concerned with meeting CO2 targets. As with the solar panel example, the government can not afford to have councils acting against it's CO2 reduction policies.

Another example of this is the very recent drubbing the High Court gave An Bord Pleanalla:

High Court rules An Bord Pleanala must prioritise climate law in wind farm case likely to affect all public bodies

By extension, this also means that councils must do likewise, which objecting to insulation clearly is not.

Power over solar panels was removed from the remit of councils because the issue was too important to be left to their small minded planning BS. Promulgating heat pumps is arguably even more important for reaching CO2 targets than solar panels, so it stands to reason that if councils are going to start messing people around for furthering the government's goals, their power to do so must be curtailed - which would be consistent with the solar panel enabling legislation.

There must be lots of alterations to the fronts of properties with no pp. Was this homeowner just unlucky that the council spotted his house or did someone report it?
In our area, driveways have been widened, bay windows added, sheds in front gardens, velux windows to the front, boats and mobiles parked in driveways for years. Rarely see pp signs unless it’s a big job. Also see a lot of front canopies and no pp sign, so they must be exempt. Is a canopy similar to a porch?

I know for a fact if you have altered the front of a property that requires planning permission if not obtained when the work is undertaken it will be required should you wish to sell the property.

Two whys here

1. Why have IT and other sources ran a story containing incorrect facts? If I was SDCC I would be getting my legal team to write to them asking for the article to be corrected.

2. Why are SDCC choosing to be selective in what they choose to inspect or enforce? I have personal experience of a building extension that does not comply with the retention permission granted with very specific conditions. 6 year later, SDCC will not enforce their grant of permission.

The council is reacting to a complaint, which from this thread seems likely to be based on the visual appearance - lack of faux brick.

My hunch is that the rejection isn't really about the standard of the drawings, it's about the appearance. If that turns out to be the case, then I'd think their rejection will be considered by government to not be in the interest of their aims. Complying with visual appearance requirements that adds costs will will deter people from external insulation. The upgrading of older buildings to a heat pump viable state is already heinously expensive, without busy bodies piling on aesthetics related costs.

Where I am, the aesthetic meddling is not about brick finishes, it's about swathes of natural stone. Good luck making that compatible with external insulation and not driving up the cost.

The Limerick council rejection of the solar panels was also on the basis of aesthetics. It's pretty clear the government does not think visual appearance trumps their CO2 aspirations.