1722. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures in place to ensure that Government Departments, local authorities and State agencies coordinate the delivery of housing with the timely provision of schools, healthcare, childcare, transport and community facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60255/26]

The Revised National Planning Framework (NPF) was finalised and approved by Government and the Oireachtas in April 2025. The Revised NPF identifies the need to plan for approximately 50,000 additional households per annum to 2040 and provides the basis for the review and updating of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSESs) and local authority development plans to reflect such critical matters such as updated housing figures and projected jobs growth, including through the zoning of land for residential, employment and other purposes.

National Policy Objective (NPO) 105 of the Revised NPF requires planning authorities and infrastructure delivery agencies to focus on the timely delivery of enabling infrastructure to priority zoned lands in order to deliver planned growth and development. NPO 103 specifies that when considering zoning land for development purposes that cannot be serviced within the life of the relevant plan, such lands should not be zoned for development. Planning for the provision of infrastructure, amenities and services is a core element of the statutory plan-making process and is key to promoting the development of sustainable communities.

The local authority development plan is the principal planning strategy document which sets out the relevant policies and objectives to guide the physical development of each city and county over a six-year period, including both urban and rural areas.

It is through the development plan that planning authorities set out relevant objectives, policy support and development management standards for development, as well as identifying suitable locations or areas for specific forms of development. The power to make or vary a development plan is a reserved function of the elected members of each planning authority.

Section 10 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (under which all existing development plans were prepared) required planning authorities to include objectives in their development plan for the provision of infrastructure, and the integration of the planning and sustainable development of the area with the social, community and cultural requirements of the area and its population. The legislation further provides that objectives must be included for the preservation, improvement and extension of amenities and recreational amenities.

All future development plans will be made under Part 3, Chapter 5 (Development Plans) of the Planning and Development Act 2024, which was commenced on 31 December 2025. Sections 44 to 51 of the Act of 2024 require planning authorities to include various strategies and objectives in their development plans including in relation to the sustainable use of land, integrated transport, infrastructure, and the amenities, facilities and services required meet the social, recreational and cultural needs of the community.

To facilitate the move to plan-making under the Act of 2024, I signed the Planning and Development (Prescribed Persons - Statutory Plans) Regulations 2025 in October 2025. These Regulations prescribe certain public bodies for the purposes of stakeholder consultation in the plan-making process under that Act. Included among those prescribed are infrastructure providers such as Uisce Éireann, Eirgrid, ESB Networks, and Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

Separately, as part of the process to prepare a development plan, section 54(5)(c) of the Act of 2024 requires each planning authority to take such measures as it considers appropriate to consult the providers of (i) energy, (ii) telecommunications, (iii) water services, (iv) transport, (v) any other infrastructure, (vi) education, (vii) health, (viii) policing, and (ix) any other services, in order to ascertain any long-term plans for the provision of infrastructure and services in the functional area of the planning authority.

The statutory requirement to notify prescribed authorities and consult with service providers during the plan-making process enables providers of public infrastructure and services to contribute from an early stage and ensure that their inputs inform the process. Such engagement also has the secondary function of allowing infrastructure providers to take account of the planned quantum and distribution of proposed development in specified areas over a medium-term horizon.

In addition, under section 213 of the 2000 Act, a local authority is empowered, for the purposes of performing any of its functions (including facilitating the implementation of its Development Plan), to acquire land, permanently or temporarily, by agreement or compulsorily. This includes the acquisition of sites for infrastructure and facilities.

Pursuant to section 48 of the 2000 Act, a planning authority or An Coimisiún Pleanála may attach a condition to a grant of planning permission requiring the payment of a contribution in respect of public infrastructure and facilities that it is intended will be provided, by or on behalf of a local authority. This may include for open spaces, and recreational and community facilities or other forms of public infrastructure. The basis for such contributions is set out in a development contribution scheme as adopted by the elected members.

It is important to note that local authorities are independent statutory bodies with democratically elected councils and their own management system. Section 63(3) of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that a local authority is independent in the performance of its functions.

Separately, I have established a Housing Activation Office within my Department to coordinate and accelerate the delivery of infrastructure projects needed to enable housing development. The Office is actively engaged in identifying barriers to housing delivery and is coordinating with local authorities and infrastructure agencies to address these barriers, including through the provision of funding under the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund (HIIF).