Explainer

A Glossary of Planning Terms.

The jargon of the Irish planning system, in plain words. Type to filter.

Information, not advice. Much of the law described here is new and has not yet been tested in the courts or by An Coimisiún Pleanála, and it could be affected by challenge, amendment or further regulation. This page gives our reading of it. For a definitive answer on a particular property or application, engage with the relevant planning authority.

Plain-English summaries. These are short, everyday explanations of terms with precise legal meanings in the Planning and Development legislation. They're for orientation, not formal advice.

A Public Information Service

These guides and tools are published as a public service and are kept to the primary legislation. They are not a free advice line, and individual queries are not answered by email or phone. For a general question about a particular property, the planning authority's planning department and Citizens Information are the starting points, and a declaration under section 5 is the formal answer. Where a matter needs professional work, the practice takes instructions on a fee basis: from developers, landowners, investors and public bodies, and from private clients, for example on retention or regularisation of unauthorised development or a change of use, and occasionally a one-off house, subject to capacity.

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