Wallace continues to raise Headshop Issue in Dail Question

15th March 2010

“I remain concerned with the availability of ‘headshops’ throughout the Country and particularly ‘headshops’ in Meath which are selling products under the label of ‘legal highs’ or ‘herbal highs’ to young people.” Says Mary Wallace TD

Deputy Wallace continued “I have asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government  John Gormley the distinction under the planning laws between retail premises and off-licence retail premises; the way in which the planning laws are applied differently to off-licence and if he would consider applying similar rules to head shops as to off-licences, including amending the planning laws if necessary”.

Minister John Gormley has advised Deputy Wallace that the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, define a shop as a structure used for, inter alia, the retail sale of goods where the sale, display or service is principally to visiting members of the public, but excluding, inter alia, any use associated with the provision of funeral services or as a funeral home, or as a hotel, a restaurant or a public house, or for the sale of hot food for consumption off the premises, except where the sale of such food is subsidiary to the main retail use.

Article 10 of the Regulations provides that, with certain exceptions, development which consists of a change of use within any one of the classes of use specified in Part 4 of Schedule 2 is exempted development.  Class 1 of Part 4 of Schedule 2 is use as a shop and accordingly the effect of these provisions was that change of use from one type of shop to another type of shop was exempted development.

In the Planning and Development Regulations 2005, the definition of shop was amended to exclude a use for the sale of intoxicating liquor for consumption off the premises (except where the sale of such liquor is subsidiary to the main retail use).  The effect of these amendments was that an off-licence no longer came within the definition of a shop and accordingly change of use from an off-licence to a shop was no longer exempted development and would in future require planning permission.

Deputy Wallace has also learned  Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy John Curran has asked Minister John Gormley to look at how the planning system might support the Department of Health regulatory response to the issue of so-called “head shops”.