Summary
Ireland's Climate Action Plan sets ambitious goals for 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a more sustainable future. Some key targets include:
- Achieving a 51% Reduction in Emissions by 2030 Relative to 2018 Levels
- Increasing renewable energy to 80% of electricity generation.
- Phasing out coal and expanding wind and solar power.
- Retrofitting homes to improve energy efficiency, with a goal of upgrading 500,000 homes.
- Promoting electric vehicles, aiming for nearly 1 million EVs on the road.
Overview of the Irish Planning System
The two principal pieces of legislation which govern planning and development in Ireland are the Planning and Development Act 2000 , as amended (the Act) and the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended (the Regulations). These Regulations are updated regularly to put legislative changes into effect on more detailed aspects of the implementation of the provisions of the Act. The draft Planning and Development Bill was published in January 2023 and is considered the most significant overhaul of the Planning and Development Regime for many years. The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2023 was enacted in Q4 2024. Some of the key changes are as follows:
- An Bord Pleanála will be re-named An Coimisiún Pleanála, or “the Commission”.
- Development plans will now have a lifetime of ten years instead of the current six years.
- Changes to Judicial Review (JR) legislation in order to process these applications as expeditiously as possible.
In addition to the Acts, the Minister may issue Planning Guidelines under Section 28 of the Act and Policy Directives under Section 29 of the Act, which planning authorities must have regard to in discharging their planning functions. The Act envisages a hierarchy of plans and strategies which operate at both national and local level, and which are complementary in terms of delivering proper planning and sustainable development. One of the aims of the Act is to ensure that these plans and strategies are more closely aligned and integrated.
Sequential order of process steps
- Site selection process
- Application preparation process
- Electricity production license process
- Administrative authorisation procedure
- Grid connection procedure
- Corporate legal-fiscal processes
- Other
Competent authorities
- Local Planning Authorities
- An Board Pleanála
- CRU
- ESB Networks
- Eirgrid
- Valuation Office