The Government has published the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026, proposing changes to the Planning and Development Act 2024 to ensure remaining provisions can commence smoothly later this year. Ministers said they intend to pass the legislation before the summer recess.

A central aim of the Bill is to accelerate and clarify court procedures for planning Judicial Reviews by extending new rules introduced in 2024 to any remaining actions or decisions taken under the Planning and Development Act 2000. The measures include removing the requirement to seek leave to bring a Judicial Review, allowing courts to remit a case to the point of procedural error instead of quashing an entire decision, and removing the option of a further appeal to the Court of Appeal, with the goal of cutting delays and legal costs and speeding up housing delivery.

Publishing the Bill, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne TD said: "I have always said that my focus is on delivery and on delivering faster. The changes in this Bill will fast-track the necessary reforms in our planning system needed to speed up the process and will help us to deliver more homes in a timely manner."

On plan-making, the Bill provides further direction for the move to 10-year Development Plans, introduces deadlines for completion of the three Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSESs) under the 2024 Act, and permits planning authorities to adjust the duration of current development plans for a limited period where necessary. These steps are designed to ensure transitional arrangements operate as intended and align with the hierarchy of plans.

Minister of State for Planning and Local Government John Cummins TD said: "How we plan for growth at a local level needs to improve and the introduction of 10 year development plans provides Local Authorities with the opportunity to plan over a longer term to meet growing housing need.

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"In the interim, variations to existing development plans, coupled with funding under the Housing Infrastructure Investment Fund are essential to ensure we have an adequate supply of zoned and serviced land.

"The changes in this Bill will ease the transition to the ten year plans."

The legislation also advances actions assigned to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under the Government-approved Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce Report and Action Plan 2025, aimed at enabling the more timely delivery of critical infrastructure projects.

According to the accompanying notes, the Bill sets a 90-week deadline for completing RSES review processes, ensuring the current reviews finish by end-2027. It allows current Development Plans to remain in force on a transitional basis until a date between February and December 2030, linked to when each plan was made under the 2000 Act. Reviews under the 2024 Act are expected to begin between July 2027 and May 2028 and conclude before those revised expiry dates. The Bill also provides for towns with populations of 10,000 or more to be designated as Key Towns and introduces further transitional measures for the shift from the 2000 to the 2024 planning regime.

To speed up Judicial Review reforms, the Bill applies Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the 2024 Act to decisions and actions under the 2000 Act where specified procedures commence after the new Bill comes into operation. It also extends the suspension of the duration of permissions subject to Judicial Review (as provided in section 180 of the 2024 Act) to relevant permissions under the 2000 Act that fall within the updated Part 9 regime.

On critical infrastructure, the Bill defines "material contravention" of a Development Plan to clarify how such assessments should be made; clarifies eligibility requirements for certain planning applications; enables Statutory Undertakers to apply for electricity distribution projects under Chapter 3 of Part 4 so they can be treated as standard development where appropriate; and streamlines processes for development wholly or partly in a Maritime Area by removing the need for a Maritime Area Consent and other consents before entering the Chapter 4 pre-application process. Consultations on electricity transmission lines or strategic gas infrastructure held under section 182E of the 2000 Act will be recognised as pre-application consultations under the 2024 Act.

The Bill will also allow existing permissions to be modified to apply appropriate apartment design standards, supporting the viability of such schemes in the near term and, where relevant, facilitating a higher number of homes within permitted apartment developments.

Further provisions align Parts 4, 21 and 22 with Part 6 of the 2024 Act on a no-policy-change basis, clarifying the role of competent authorities and environmental screening duties for Appropriate Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment in relation to retention permission, retrospective consent, Local Authority Own Development, State Authority Own Development, planning schemes (Part 21) and development schemes (Part 22).

In addition, the Bill makes technical corrections to cross-references and typographical errors and clarifies existing text without changing its intent. It also amends the Housing Finance Agency Act 1981 concerning the statutory borrowing limit of the Housing Finance Agency.