From:Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne and the Minister of State for Local Government and Planning John Cummins today published the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026 (2026 Bill) which makes amendments to the Planning and Development Act 2024 (2024 Act). It is intended to have the Bill enacted before the summer recess.

The main purpose of the 2026 Bill is to support the smooth commencement of the remaining provisions of the 2024 Act later this year.

The Bill will speed up the implementation of the new procedural rules for planning Judicial Review that were introduced in the 2024 Act. This bill will apply the measures to any remaining acts or decisions made under the 2000 Act.

This includes beneficial measures such as the removal of the requirement to apply for ‘leave’ to apply for Judicial Review proceedings. This enables a case to be remitted back to the point at which a procedural breach may have occurred, as analternative to the whole case having to be quashedand removes the possibility of further legal appeal to the Court of Appeal, all of which reduce time and remove unnecessary additional legal costs to all parties.

The introduction of these measures at an earlier date is intended to result in areduction of unnecessary delays and accelerate the delivery of critical decisions- ultimately speeding up housing delivery.

Minister James Browne TD confirmed:

'I have always said that my focus is on delivery and on delivering faster. The changes in this Bill will fast-track the necessary reforms in our planning system needed to speed up the process and will help us to deliver more homes in a timely manner.'

The Bill also seeks to provide clarity and further policy direction on a number of matters that have already commenced in Part 3 of the 2024 Act relating to plan-making, including the timely introduction of 10-year Development Plans.

The Bill amends Part 3 of the Act of 2024 to provide a deadline for the making of the three Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSESs) under the Act of 2024 and to allow planning authorities to amend the duration of their current development plans, for a defined maximum period where necessary.

These amendments will speed up the move to plan-making under the 2024 Act and ensure that the transitional measures already provided for will operate as originally intended, in line with the hierarchy of plan making.

Minister of State for Planning and Local Government John Cummins TD emphasised:

'How we plan for growth at a local level needs to improve and the introduction of 10 year development plans provides Local Authorities with the opportunity to plan over a longer term to meet growing housing need.

'In the interim, variations to existing development plans, coupled with funding under the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund are essential to ensure we have an adequate supply of zoned and serviced land.

'The changes in this Bill will ease the transition to the ten year plans.'

The Bill also seeks to address a number of Actions that were assigned to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage following the Government approval of theAccelerating Infrastructure Taskforce Report and Action Plan 2025to enhance the timely delivery of critical infrastructure projects.

Further details on the provision of the Bill are included in Notes for the Editor and the Bill can be accessedhere.

The provisions of the Bill can largely be grouped into five main themes:

This Bill provides a 90-week deadline for the completion of the RSES review processes and ensure that the current reviews are completed by end 2027.

The Bill allows for the current Development Plans to remain in force on a transitional basis, until no later than a specified date between February and December 2030. The relevant date for this purpose is linked to the date on which the relevant Development Plan was made under the Act of 2000. In line with the hierarchy of plan making, the revised end date should act as a trigger for the completion of review of the Development Plans under the Act of 2024 and thereby the timely introduction of 10-year Development Plans. These reviews are expected to commence between July 2027 and May 2028 and be completed in advance of the revised expiration date of the Development Plans made under the Act of 2000.

The Bill provides for the designation of towns with populations of 10,000 or more as Key Towns.

The Bill introduces further transitional arrangements for the transition from the Act of 2000 to the Act of 2024.

This Bill will speed up the implementation of the new procedural rules for planning Judicial Review introduced in the Act of 2024 by making the following amendments:

The Bill includes a number of amendments to Part 4 to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure projects, including measures committed to in theAccelerating Infrastructure Taskforce Report and Action Plan 2025and provides:

The Bill will also make amendments to allow for the modification of an existing permission in accordance with appropriate apartment design standards. Agile application of appropriate apartment design standards to permissions already granted (including, where relevant, the development of a greater numbers of dwellings in apartment complexes) will help support the viability of the development of such apartments in the immediate term.

The Bill provides a number of amendments, on a no-policy change basis, to Part 4, Part 6, Part 21 and Part 22 to clarify the role of competent authority and the environmental screening obligations for both Appropriate Assessment (AA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in respect of retention permission, retrospective consent, Local Authority Own Development, State Authority Own Development, planning schemes (Part 21) and development schemes (Part 22).

The Bill provides a number of technical amendments to correct cross-references, typographical errors and to clarify the existing text without changing its intent. It also amends the Housing Finance Agency Act 1981 in respect of the statutory borrowing limit of the Housing Finance Agency.