Concerns have been raised that planning permission on the Crown Square office development is inadequate to facilitate the move of City Hall to Mervue.

A meeting of the City Council heard on Monday that the planning permission granted for the development gave a very specific list of potential uses for the building – and “general administration” was not one of them.

Cllr Owen Hanley (Soc Dem) said the planning permission, granted by City Hall’s own Planning Department in May 2019, did not include the administration of local government.

“A list of uses was set out by the by City Council, mainly around the technology side of industry,” said the Social Democrats councillor.

He questioned whether a fresh planning application would be required for change of use.

“I am concerned that Planning Condition 3 would not include general office usage,” said Cllr Hanley, who was the only councillor to vote against the draw-down of a €45.5 million loan to cover the cost of the move when it was proposed last July.

Chief Executive of the Council Brendan McGrath brought plans to councillors in the summer to relocate all employees out of College Road to Mervue – drawing down a loan that will result in the local authority making repayments of an estimated €2 million per annum for 30 years.

At Monday’s meeting, Acting Chief Executive Patricia Philbin said the Council believed the planning permission was adequate for the move to take place, but confirmed that the deal had not yet been fully signed off.