Key Policy Reforms - Planning and Development Act 2024

National Planning Framework (NPF)

The National Planning Framework (NPF) will continue to spearhead the planning agenda and the Act sets out a ‘plan-led’ system and structure whereby all tiers of planning from regional to local align with the strategic objectives set out in the NPF. Put simply, lower order plans will be required to align with higher order plans, with Development Plans aligned to the Regional Strategies and in turn to the NPF and National Planning Statements, and with the area-based plans aligned to Development Plans.

National Planning Statements (NPS)

Ministerial guidelines will be replaced by National Planning Statements. These are subject to consultation and approved by Government and provide greater clarity, whereby alignment with National Planning Policies and Measures will be mandatory, whereas the associated guidance that will outline how these policies should be implemented, will be discretionary in nature. This will allow the system to remain responsive to change and allow Government policy to inform project and programme delivery throughout the lifecycle of the NPF.

Alignment to NPF and NPS

To ensure consistency in a timely manner, there is a process to expedite review of development plans after any changes to the NPF or when new national planning statements are introduced, to make sure that development plans remain in alignment with national policy.

The aim of these arrangements is to improve scope for the various tiers of the planning system to more closely relate to one another, therefore providing greater clarity and consistency for all involved, from individual citizens and resident’s groups to landowners and developers, and ultimately where necessary, the Courts, who have become the final arbiter of many planning decisions on large-scale development proposals in recent years.

Extended, more strategic Development Plans

Development plans will have a 10-year lifespan rather than the current 6 year lifespan and will be more strategic in nature than under the current Act. An interim review of the development plan will occur at year 5, in order to take account of wider changes since the plan was prepared and to allow for update, if required.

This will provide more up-to-date and strategic plans; providing greater certainty that there is sufficient zoned land available at all times to align with the needs of the housing and economic development and again, providing greater certainty over a longer period for all stakeholders.

The 10-year cycle, with 5 year reviews, will mean that every elected member will be involved, at minimum, in either the making of the Development Plan, or the review and possible amendment via the interim review.

Local area plans will be replaced by specific types of area-based plan, to better enable local authority objectives to be prioritised, rather than simply being mandatory in nature and drawing resources where not always most needed.

There is a clearer distinction between different categories of consents and most importantly there are statutory time periods for decision making for all consent processes, including, for the first time, for An Coimisiún Pleanála. This will bring increased certainty to planning consent processes, for both the public and stakeholders involved in the delivery of key infrastructure such as housing and renewable energy.

The headline time periods for An Coimisiún Pleanála range from 18 weeks for appeals of decisions of planning authorities on smaller-scale development proposals, to 48 weeks for larger-scale Strategic Infrastructure Developments. The varying timelines reflect the differing complexities of applications dealt with by the Commission.

The Act provides for a significantly revised corporate structure for An Bord Pleanála, which will be renamed An Coimisiún Pleanála, with a separation of corporate, decision making and governance functions.

The Act outlines the separate roles of:-

• Planning Commissioners - who will be responsible for all decision making regarding appeals and applications made and they will be overseen by a newly created position of Chief Planning Commissioner.
• The Governing Board - which will be responsible for the governance and organisation.
• The Executive– will provide support to all of the organisations and functions will be overseen by a Chief Executive Officer.

One of the most important areas of reform in this Act is in Part 9, which updates the processes and parameters of planning judicial review. It also facilitates the introduction of a scale of fees relating to the judicial review legal fees and the introduction of an Environmental Legal Costs Financial Assistance Mechanism, to ensure that the costs associated with proceeding with a judicial review are not prohibitively expensive and maintaining compliance with Ireland’s commitments under the Aarhus Convention.

These reforms have been underpinned by the detailed review and advice of the Office of the Attorney General as well as extensive engagement with stakeholders and other relevant Government Departments, in particular the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, who are leading on the establishment of the scale of fees and Environmental Legal Costs Financial Assistance Mechanism.

Below is a summary of the key policy changes and the associated rationale:

Application to Leave

The current Planning and Development Act 2000 requires an application for leave to apply for judicial review proceedings. The original intention of this was to act as a form of screening for valid cases but in practice over time, due in part to the widening in scope of the environmental parameters related to planning judicial reviews, almost all cases now proceed past the leave stage. Therefore removing the leave stage removes both time and unnecessary additional legal costs to all parties. All applicants must in any case provide evidence of sufficient grounds and sufficient interest (see below) in order to proceed.

A further provision (Applications to strike out Part 9 judicial review) maintains the ability of a party to apply to the Court to strike out the proceedings on stated criteria such as lack of standing, being out-of-time, a failure to exhaust appeals and administrative procedures or a failure to disclose an arguable case. Additionally, the Court may also deem applications to be frivolous or vexatious.

Grounds

Presently a JR applicant may bring amended grounds beyond those originally filed in their applications. This can cause significant delays as the Court and defendant must then consider the merits of each new amended ground.

The Act reforms this by requiring that that an application for judicial review may only be made on the grounds of challenge raised by the applicant in the statement of grounds filed with their application and sets out limited criteria by which the Court may allow subsequent amendments to that statement of grounds.

Sufficient Interest

Except in the case of specified bodies, for example Environmental NGOs, the Act requires all JR applicants to have exhausted any available appeal procedures or any other administrative remedy available in respect of the decision or act concerned. For example, an individual must have made a submission on the original planning application in order to later make an application to take a judicial review on that application.

Special Status of Environmental NGOs

The special protected status of environmental NGOs to take a Judicial Review case is maintained, even where they have not exhausted previous avenues as above. They can do so where there proceedings relate to a development that is a European site or where the proposed development is likely to have significant effects on the environment and regardless of whether the eNGO is directly or indirectly affected themselves. This privilege is bestowed on such organisations by Ireland’s commitments under the Aarhus Convention.

There are a number of minimum governance requirements for such organisations, none of which will present a barrier to bona fide eNGOs:

• That they have existed for at least one year prior to taking the proceedings and are a company or limited liability body (including a constitution).
• That environmental protection relevant to the proceedings is a stated objective or the organisation’s constitution.
• That there are a minimum of 10 members at the time of the proceeding.
• That the Board of Directors (or equivalent) of the eNGO take a formal decision to proceed with the Judicial Review.

Residents Associations and other unincorporated bodies

Unincorporated organisations, such as residents’ associations, maintain the right to take Judicial Review, subject to certain governance criteria. These criteria include including having sufficient interest, taking a vote of members and providing information to the Court to state who is taking the case and are intended to verify the mandate and bona fides of the unincorporated organisation in order to facilitate their inclusion in the Judicial Review process as recommended.

Cost provisions for Judicial Review cases

The Act provides that the cost rules currently applicable under the Planning and Development Act 2000 will be replaced with new rules on entitlement to, and exposure to, costs orders for parties to these types of proceedings. A scale of fees for legal costs arising from these proceedings is to be introduced as well as an Environmental Legal Cost Financial Assistance Mechanism to provide financial assistance to persons and organisations bringing proceedings.

The introduction of a scale of fees and a financial assistance mechanism will ensure that the costs to applicants taking a Judicial Review will not be prohibitively expensive. This will improve access to justice and regularise judicial review costs for the State.

Both cost provisions will be regulated through secondary legislation by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications.