Kerry County Council opened almost 2,000 planning enforcement cases over the last five years.
The figures were provided to Independent councillor Jackie Healy-Rae at the recent monthly meeting of Kerry County Council.
Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae sought details of how many enforcement cases were initiated by Kerry County Council over the past five years, as well as details of what the cases related to.
The council says the majority of the cases related to unauthorised developments, with the remainder mostly associated with non-compliance with planning conditions.
The figures show there have been 301 planning enforcement cases opened so far this year, there were 446 last year and 596 in 2021.
A further 299 such cases were opened by the council in 2020 and there were 287 in 2019.
Over 1,600 planning enforcement cases, including those deemed to be invalid and withdrawn cases, were also closed by the council over the past five years; 372 such cases have been closed this year alone.
Kerry County Council says there have been 76 legal cases initiated over the past five years in relation to these cases; 38 of these cases are yet to be determined.
Over €216,700 (€216,712.14) has been paid in legal fees in respect of enforcement cases since 2019.
Kerry County Council says a high number of legal cases are resolved to the satisfaction of the council before a court order is required.
