Written answers
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government
Planning Issues
Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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59. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of applications that have been processed by his Department under the single stage process, per county, for 2022, 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; his views on what the strengths and weaknesses of the programme are; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35400/25]
James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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In 2016, a single-stage approval process was commenced on a pilot basis as a new streamlined approval mechanism, for projects with a maximum all-in budget of less than €2m (and no more than 15 units). This process was subsequently reviewed with the maximum budget threshold increased in 2020 to €6 million (and no more than 25 units). The value limit was increased again in 2023 from €6 million to €8 million.
Since its introduction in 2016, a total of 164 projects across 26 local authorities have availed of the single stage approval process. Over the period in question, 86 projects were approved, 6 were withdrawn and 11 remain at proposal status.
The details of approved projects over the period requested are provided in tabular form, by local authority and year, set out in the attached file.
There has been limited uptake of the single stage approval process, since its introduction in 2016, owing in large part to local authority and Approved Housing Body (AHB) reluctance to proceed on the basis of a single budget approval.
In line with The Programme for Government 2025 commitment to seek efficiencies in the pre-construction approval process by introducing a single stage approval process for all standardised social housing projects, my Department has been reviewing the existing single and four stage approval process. Any new approval process agreed will replace the existing processes.
Number of Single Stage Projects Approved by Local Authority* and Year
| County/Year | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Total Per County |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Clare | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Cork City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cork County | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 22 |
| Donegal | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 14 |
| Dublin City | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Fingal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Galway County | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Kerry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Kildare | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Kilkenny | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| Laois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Leitrim | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| Limerick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Longford | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Louth | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Mayo | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
| Meath | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Monaghan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Roscommon | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Sligo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| South Dublin | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Tipperary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Waterford | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Wexford | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Wicklow | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Total Per Year | 25 | 24 | 28 | 9 |
*only those LA's listed as having an approved single stage project are listed.
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