1652. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the timeframe for the transition to ten-year development plans under the Planning and Development Act 2024 as amended; if he has engaged with the OPR on the matter; if each local authority will be allowed to take the maximum extension available to 2030 or if that will be set by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55947/26]

1653. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has engaged with local authorities on the transition to ten year development plans; if local authorities have indicated their plans to extend current plans to the maximum period of 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55948/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1652 and 1653 together.

The Planning and Development Act 2024 (Act of 2024) was enacted on 17 October 2024. Given its scale, the Act of 2024 is being commenced on a phased basis to facilitate the transition from arrangements under the old Planning and Development Act 2000 to the new legislative framework.

The Department established a Planning and Development Act Oversight Group in December 2024 with responsibility for overseeing the on-going implementation of the Act of 2024. This group comprises representation from the County and City Management Association (CCMA) and other representatives of the local authorities, Regional Assemblies, An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP), Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR), state infrastructure providers, utility providers, and professional planning institutes.

A number of Implementation Working Groups were also established to facilitate further stakeholder engagement including the Local Authority Working Group on Plans which includes members of the planning authorities, the OPR and the Department.

The relevant provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024 relating to plan-making were commenced on 31 December 2025 at the same time that the majority of the corresponding provisions of the Act of 2000 were repealed.

In H1 2026, the workplan of the Plans Working Group was specifically focused on the operational impact of the commencement of Part 3 and the consideration of the amendments relating to plan-making that have now been introduced in the Planning & Development (Amendment) Act, 2026.

This 2026 Amendment Act was recently signed into law by the President on 20 July 2026.

It further amends Part 3 of the Act of 2024 to provide for the timely transition to the revised Statutory Plans process and ensures that the transitional measures provided for will operate as originally intended, in line with the hierarchy of plan making by:

• Providing a deadline for the making of the three Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSESs) under the Act of 2024;

• Enabling planning authorities to amend the period of their current development plans, including extensions, for a defined maximum period where necessary.

The review of each of the three Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSESs) were commenced by the three Regional Assemblies at the end of March 2026, in accordance with Section 31(1) of the Planning and Development Act 2024 (as amended).

The 2026 Amendment Act now provides for a 90-week deadline for the completion of this RSES review process and ensures that the current reviews are completed by end 2027 or if required, such other period as may be prescribed.

The 2026 Amendment Act, 2026 allows for all 31 current Development Plans to remain in force on a transitional basis, until no later than a specified date between February and December 2030. The relevant date for this purpose is linked to the date on which the relevant Development Plan was made under the Act of 2000.

The Development Plan reviews are expected to commence between July 2027 and May 2028 and be completed in advance of the revised expiration date of the Development Plans made under the Act of 2000.

Amendment of section 68 of the Act of 2024 Act provides for the current development plans to remain in place to a certain date. The approach provided for in the Amendment Act, 2026 is to group all 31 development plans into 6 batches in order to sequence the commencement of reviews while also providing the timeline within which a local authority may extend its current development plan.

The batches are arranged in order of priority so that the initial batch of 7 development plans may be extended first.

Thereafter, the second batch comprises 4 Development Plans, followed by 4 batches of 5 Development Plans. The batches are sequenced to be spread 2 months apart.

This is to ensure that the planning system and assessment by the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) of all Development Plans and environmental assessment of all plans can effectively function, taking account of existing resources. An extension or reduction, as the case may be, may be made by either a resolution of the members of the planning authority or the direction of the Minister.