John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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510. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures his Department is taking to address delays in the planning system that are slowing down the delivery of housing in Cork north-west; if he will provide additional resources or supports to Cork County Council to speed up the progression of both social and private housing projects in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65222/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Planning and Development Act 2024 (Act of 2024) was enacted in October 2024 and is in the process of being commenced. The Act of 2024 introduces a range of measures to streamline the planning process.

The Act of 2024 introduces statutory time periods for decision making for An Coimisiún Pleanála (An Coimisiún) for the first time. The headline time periods for An Coimisiún will range from 18 weeks for appeals of decisions of planning authorities to 48 weeks for larger-scale Strategic Infrastructure Developments. The varying timelines reflect the differing complexities of applications dealt with by An Coimisiún.

The Act of 2024 also makes important reforms in relation to Judicial Review (JR). It:

• removes the requirement to apply for leave to apply for JR proceedings which reduces time and removes unnecessary additional legal costs to all parties.

• requires that an application for JR 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.

• provides that an applicant for JR will not be permitted to plead a ground in JR proceedings unless they have a sufficient interest in the matter to which the ground relates.

The Act of 2024 introduces a new procedure to deal with “spurious” planning submissions and appeals, set out at Section 588. Submissions on planning applications, appeals of applications and judicial reviews must be accompanied by a statutory declaration stating that the submission or appeal is not being done for the purposes of delaying a development or for receiving a payment. A declaration must also be made when withdrawing a submission, appeal or a judicial review. Penalties are also introduced in respect of anyone making a false declaration.

I am satisfied that the new statutory time periods for An Coimisiún, along with the JR reforms and mandatory declaration procedures set out at section 588 of the Act of 2024 will contribute significantly to the operation of the planning process.

My Department is in the process of commencing of the Act of 2024 on a phased basis to facilitate the transition to the new legislation across the planning system, taking into account the need to liaise with local authorities, planning bodies and other stakeholders. It should be noted that the existing provisions in the Act of 2000 will remain in place until repealed and the relevant provisions in the Act of 2024 are commenced. A detailed implementation plan is available at www.gov.ie/planning.

My Department is currently working on a number of measures to increase staffing levels in the local government planning sector. In this regard, my Department is collaborating with the Local Government Management Agency on the delivery of a programme of supports to planning authorities. These supports include the provision of staffing resources and expertise to enable planning authorities to perform their functions efficiently and effectively.

In October 2023, my Department conveyed approval to the filling of an initial 100 posts, subsequently increased to 101 posts, in the local authority planning sector under the first tranche of a programme of supports for planning resources. A further approval issued in January 2025 for 56 graduate planner posts and 56 staff officer posts to support the Planning function within local authorities.

To date, under these supports, the following additional planning staff were approved for Cork City Council and Cork County Council:

Cork City Council

Phase 1: 4 Staff

Phase 2a: 2 Graduate Planners

Phase 2b: 2 Staff Officers

Cork County Council

Phase 1: 5 Staff

Phase 2a: 3 Graduate Planners

Phase 2b: 3 Staff Officers

Consideration is currently being given to a business case received by the LGMA for a phase 3 of supports for further planning positions within the local government sector which will include a summer internship programme in 2026. Discussions are ongoing in this regard.

On 15 October 2024, my Department published a Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources to respond to capacity challenges in the planning sector. This Action Plan provides a detailed roadmap to increase the pool of planning and related expertise needed to ensure a planning system fit for future needs. It sets out 14 high-level actions that provide a coordinated pathway to ensure a sustainable pipeline of planning and related expertise into the future, addressing the areas of education, recruitment and retention, as well as measures to encourage greater innovation and efficiency.

Funding was secured in Budget 2025 to support delivery of the Action Plan and a Steering Group was established to coordinate and oversee the development of this Action Plan. This group remains in place to oversee the implementation and ongoing review of the Action Plan. Five Working Groups, the members of which are key stakeholders, have been established to progress grouped actions in the areas of education, national recruitment, international recruitment, system reform and innovation and efficiency. All of these working groups have met a number of times and the work of the groups is progressing well.

A copy of the Action Plan can be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link:

I have also established a Housing Activation Office in my Department. The team comprises senior and experienced staff from within my Department, in addition to senior specialists seconded from Uisce Éireann, ESB Networks, the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the local government sector. The Office is actively engaged in identifying barriers to housing delivery and is coordinating with local authorities and infrastructure agencies to address these barriers.

In the coming months I will be bringing forward a new Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund, with multiyear funding being made available to support direct investment in critical housing infrastructure where it can be accelerated and delivered in the short term. This new fund will operate in addition to existing investment programmes such as the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund and the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, which will continue to play a key role alongside the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund.

This joined-up approach will help accelerate housing delivery by unblocking infrastructure constraints and ensuring that investment is targeted to where it can have the greatest impact.

In addition, Delivering Homes, Building Communities commits to supporting local authorities by financially supporting fully resourced and ring fenced housing delivery teams in each authority focused exclusively on new build social and affordable housing projects. This builds on the commitment in Housing for All to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects.

Following extensive work undertaken to identify the additional capital staff resources required by local authorities to deliver the social housing targets set out in Housing for All, funding was approved for 250 technical and administrative housing posts in local authorities nationally to support social housing delivery. Of these posts, Cork City Council received funding approval for eleven and Cork County Council received funding approval for nine.

My Department has worked with the Housing Delivery Coordination Office and the County and City Management Association to identify additional staffing resources required by local authorities to support affordable housing delivery programmes. Funding provision has been made and sanction granted for a complement of 140.5 additional specialist and administrative positions across 27 local authorities to help ramp up affordable housing delivery. These posts are solely dedicated to affordable housing delivery and equip local authorities with increased levels of in-house expertise in key areas such as design, procurement, surveying, engineering and administration. Cork City and Cork County in particular have each been granted a complement of 10 additional specialist and administrative staff positions all of which have been filled.

The Government and the Department is providing the necessary funding and supports for local authorities to address the challenges they face in delivering affordable housing at scale. Local authorities continue to work proactively, in conjunction with all delivery partners, to expand and develop affordable housing delivery programmes and to ensure an effective response to the affordable housing needs identified within their functional areas.

It should be noted that, under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he/she is responsible including progressing appointments that have been sanctioned by my Department as appropriate. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of local government sector employment levels.

In order to support the new Housing Plan, almost €25bn in NDP funding has been allocated to Housing Capital Programmes over the lifetime of the NDP. The Social Housing programmes will deliver an average of 12,000 new build Social Homes per annum to 2031. It will include an enhanced €500m Land Acquisition Fund. This fund will be reformed, streamlined and expanded to ensure it is fit for purpose and can support the level of ambition reflected in the new projections. The Social Housing Programme will also include a second hand social housing acquisitions programme out to 2031 which will be targeted at households in the most precarious of housing situations.

In Budget 2026, the total Exchequer funding being made available for the delivery of housing programmes is €7.21bn, comprising:

o Capital Funding - €5.19bn

o Current Funding - €2.021bn

The Exchequer Capital provision of €5.19bn will be supplemented by Land Development Agency (LDA) investment (projected up to €1.6bn) and Housing Finance Agency (HFA) lending (projected over €2bn), resulting in an overall capital provision of over €9bn.