Satellite dish owners face heavy fines

HOUSE owners who place satellite dishes on the front of their homes are being threatened with large fines for breaking planning rules.

In Galway, the city council has sent warning letters to 22 households, while Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has told its tenants planning permission is required for a dish.

Planners believe satellite dishes can harm the character and appearance of an area if they are badly sited.

The penalty for breaching the regulations is a fine of up to €12.7 million and €12,700 for every day the dish remains.

Galway City Council said it does not want a proliferation of satellite dishes on the front of houses.

"We're bringing the issue to people's attention and we give them four weeks to address it," said Galway City Council director of planning Ciarán Hayes.

House owners are legally allowed to install a satellite dish at the rear of their house, as long as it does not exceed one metre in diameter and have more than one antenna. Most of the people contacted by Galway city council have agreed to relocate the satellite dishes.

Local authorities have experienced more problems recently because Sky Ireland is attracting more customers with aggressive marketing techniques and has increased its number of subscribers from 220,000 three years ago to 315,000.

"Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the relevant consents have been obtained, the responsibility lies with the customer," a Sky spokesman said.