The Taoiseach's partner, Ms Celia Larkin, has applied for retention of planning permission to continue running her image consultancy business from her Dublin home.
An advertisement outlining Ms Larkin's intention to apply to Dublin Corporation for retention of planning permission was published in the Sunday Tribune yesterday, a week after a two-page feature on her image consultancy.
Ms Larkin, who took a career break from the Department of the Taoiseach to launch her firm, said that the business had taken off faster than she intended as a result of media publicity. It was a fine line in planning terms as to whether a one-to-one consultancy with clients who had appointments required planning permission, she said. "I decided that, if there was any doubt, the best thing to do was apply."
She had already organised public liability insurance cover and she was registered for tax purposes.
Ms Larkin had originally planned to give consultations in clients' homes, but the conditions at her home were so suitable that she decided instead to use that as her business base.