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Explainer

How a Planning Application Works

From the first site notice to a final grant, the Irish planning process in plain English, with the timelines that actually matter.

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.
General guidance. This explains the standard process for a planning application to a local authority. Timelines can pause or extend (for example when the council seeks further information), and some developments follow different routes. It is general information, not formal advice on any specific case.

Most people meet the planning system only a handful of times. Knowing the shape of it, and the deadlines, can remove much of the stress.

Here is the journey a typical application takes, from preparing to lodge, through the council's decision, to the appeal stage at An Coimisiún Pleanála.

1
Before applying

Pre-Planning & Preparation

Optional but valuable: a pre-planning discussion with the local authority helps flag issues early. The drawings, reports and planning case are prepared so the application is complete and robust from day one.

2
Before and on the day of applying

Public Notices

The public must be notified before applying:

  • › A notice in an approved local newspaper.
  • › A site notice erected at the property, clearly visible and legible, kept up for at least 5 weeks (the 9 days from 24 Dec–1 Jan don't count).
  • › The council must receive the application within 2 weeks of the newspaper notice.
3
Day 0

Application Lodged

The application, drawings, site location map and notices go to the local authority, online through the national planning portal, or by post/email. The clock starts once a valid application is received.

4
Weeks 0–5

Public Participation

Anyone can make a submission or observation on the application within 5 weeks of it being received, for a €20 fee. Only those who make a submission (and the applicant) can later appeal. We prepare considered submissions where a scheme warrants it.

5
By week 8 (typically)

The Council's Decision

The authority normally decides within 8 weeks of a valid application. It may first issue a Request for Further Information (RFI), this pauses the clock until the applicant responds, and significant new information can trigger fresh public notices.

  • › Grant, permission, usually with conditions.
  • › Refuse, with stated reasons that can be addressed or appealed.
6
4 weeks from the decision

The Appeal Window

The council's decision is not final for 4 weeks. In that window, the applicant or any party who made a submission can appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála. If no appeal is lodged, the council issues the final grant.

7
Aim: 18 weeks

An Coimisiún Pleanála

If appealed, the national planning commission reviews the case afresh. It aims to decide within 18 weeks, though complex cases take longer, and it writes to keep parties updated. Its decision replaces the council's.

8
After the grant

Grant, Conditions & What's Next

A permission normally lasts 5 years. Conditions may need to be discharged before work starts. In limited circumstances a decision can be challenged by judicial review in the High Court, on a point of law rather than the planning merits.

Once Part 4 commences. Part 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 replaces the 2000 Act procedure for any application lodged on or after that date; an application lodged before Part 4 commences stays under the 2000 Act through to appeal (s.626). On our reading, the steps above hold, with these changes. A scheme of ten or more houses, or 1,000 sq m or more of other floorspace, must go through a pre-application consultation first, and without it the application is likely to be invalid (ss.89 and 95). The submission period stays at five weeks and the fee at €20, but a submission must be on the prescribed form with a declaration that it is not made to delay the development or to obtain a payment (s.588; draft regulations, Forms No. 5 and 6), and a late submission is returned (s.86(4)). The authority may not decide before six weeks from receipt (draft regulation 18) and there is no deemed grant if it misses the eight weeks; instead it must ask the applicant's consent to more time (s.101). A further information request may be made once only, on matters not foreseeable at lodgement or raised in submissions (draft regulation 20). The appeal period stays at four weeks. The Commission's eighteen weeks appears to become a duty (s.361). A permission may afterwards be altered or extended by request under ss.138 to 150 rather than by a fresh application. See how to make a submission under the new Act and what changes when Part 4 commences.
The practice

The Practice's Services

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Application Management

Strategy, team coordination and a robust application lodged right first time. More →

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Submissions & Appeals

A principled case, for or against, argued on planning merit. More →

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Site Appraisal

What a site can realistically deliver, before any commitment. More →

Sources: Citizens Information, appealing a decision · An Coimisiún Pleanála · OPR, Making a Planning Application (PDF)