Minister Burke revokes 2017 Interim Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Statutory Plans, Renewable Energy and Climate Change

Peter Burke, Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning, has today (Friday 16 December) revoked the Section 28 Interim Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Statutory Plans, Renewable Energy and Climate Change, which date from 2017 and focus on administrative procedure in the preparation of local authority city and county development plans.

In a statement giving reasons for his decision, the Minister set out the relevant recent changes in the area of climate legislation and policy stating:

"Since the publication of the guidelines, there have been a number of significant and critical developments in relation to climate change and renewable energy which I have given due consideration to, in the context of my decision and which supersede those documents listed in Section 3 of Interim Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Statutory Plans, Renewable Energy and Climate Change published in 2017."

The legislative and policy developments referred to in the Minister’s statement include the following:

through the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 and the National Development Plan 2021 – 2030, the government has committed to a binding target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% and increase the share of electricity generated from renewable sources by up to 80% over the decade (2021 – 2030), and to achieving net-zero emissions no later than 2050
the publication of the Climate Action Plan 2021 and the associated Annex of Actions identifies precise and targeted measures to ensure that Ireland achieves a 51% reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and also to reach net-zero emissions by no later than 2050
the European Commission’s proposed immediate joint European action programme, REPowerEU, to terminate the dependence on imported fossil fuels from Russia before 2030 while ensuring more affordable, secure, and clean energy for Europe
the National Energy Security Framework, published in April 2022, sets out the government’s response to Ireland’s energy security needs in the context of the war in Ukraine. It coordinates efforts connected to energy security across the electricity, gas, and oil sectors to address the challenges posed to energy security and energy affordability

The Minister specifically cites the delivery of Action 102 set out in the Annex of Actions, which commits to publishing a framework to set out targets for onshore renewable electricity development to inform spatial plans stating that:

“It is desirable that such outputs and targets would be available to inform county development plans and that potential for renewables would not be prescribed prematurely, particularly given the life-cycle of development plans, which span six years. This can be applied to development plans when the framework to set regional and local targets for onshore renewable electricity development is available.”

The Minister also references the need for the scheduled and sequential preparation and publication of the relevant nationally and regionally integrated frameworks and plans to inform Development Plans, to give the required effect to determining targets and potential measures that can be proportionately and reasonably applied at local authority level. In that regard, the Minister noted the importance of the detail to be included in the updated Climate Action Plan, currently scheduled to be brought to Government on 20 December.

The revocation of the guidelines is in effect as of, and from, 16 December 2022.

Minister Burke revokes 2017 Interim Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Statutory Plans, Renewable Energy and Climate Change

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