A number of councillors have hit out at the council for letting people get away without planning permission.
Councillors in Westmeath are calling for greater enforcement of planning regulations in the county.
Fine Gael's John Dolan says a failure on Westmeath County Council to uphold "the law of the land" means people are getting away with building properties without planning permission.
The issue was flagged by a number of councillors at the latest meeting of Westmeath County Council, with various reports from constituents complaining about the lack of enforcement.
Moate and The Downs were name-checked as areas of concern.
In response to the concerns, Director of Services Barry Kehoe reminded the elected members that the local authority had assigned to executive planners to enforcement at the turn of the year.
He confirmed, however, that one of those planners has since left, with the Council again struggling to deal with "the large number of enforcement reports we receive".
He said they vary from serious issues, like a high risk of environmental damage, that have to be dealt with urgently to others that are forced to go through a protracted courts process.
Mr. Kehoe expressed his disappointment at not making the progress they'd hoped this year, and apologised to the councillors.
Councillor John Dolan thinks staffing issues are no excuse for not upholding the law:
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