Public perception of planning system worsens while harsh reality of housing crisis hits homes
Planning in Ireland is under increasing scrutiny as the pressure to deliver
housing
, infrastructure and climate resilience mounts. While the system plays a critical role in shaping sustainable communities, public perception has grown more critical due to delays, negative media coverage, legal challenges and political tensions.
At the core lies a perception of inefficiency, inconsistency and distrust. Delays in securing planning permission, particularly for large-scale housing and infrastructure, are widely reported. Appeals and judicial reviews frequently delay and often derail granted projects, reinforcing the image of a slow, bureaucratic system vulnerable to obstruction. Developers, investors and communities alike express frustration at what often seems like an unpredictable and overly legalistic process.
Recent reforms aim to address these challenges. The Planning and Development Act 2024 will introduce mandatory timelines for appeals and narrow the grounds for judicial review to improve transparency, provide greater certainty and rebuild confidence. Simultaneously, the recently approved National Planning Framework – First Revision offers a chance to better align long-term spatial planning with housing, infrastructure and climate goals. Nonetheless, some argue the reforms may fall short or create short-term disruption.
These reforms are also complemented by the recent establishment of the Housing Activation Office (HAO), which seeks to support local authorities in proactively progressing housing and infrastructure projects. This initiative reflects a more joined-up, solutions-focused approach to activation. However, recent discussions around the potential appointment of a new housing 'tsar' to head this office led to political tensions between the Government and Opposition, and within the ranks of the Government itself, resulting in the individual withdrawing their name from consideration for the role.
READ MORE
Leon Murray is head of planning at CBRE
A further challenge lies in the disconnect between national and regional strategy and local implementation. Despite ambitious targets, delivery often slows due to local political opposition, resource constraints and community resistance. This fuels a perception that the system is pulling in multiple directions.
Political interventions and media narratives further complicate matters. Headlines often present planning as 'a barrier' or the 'number one issue' to delivering housing and infrastructure projects across the State. Furthermore, the planning process is portrayed as a battleground, highlighting cases where objectors 'win' against developers or the planning authority. In one instance, councillors dezoned serviced lands following opposition to a project, despite the site already having permission for a larger development – this decision has now been challenged in the High Court.
These 'David-v-Goliath' portrayals oversimplify complex planning decisions and reinforce the idea of an inherent conflict between development and community or environmental interests. In truth, good planning seeks to reconcile these.
Improving the optics around planning requires more than legislative and policy changes. It demands visible enhancements to how the system operates and communicates. This includes better resourced and supported planning authorities, stronger alignment across governance levels and more meaningful community engagement. Embracing digital tools, data-led decision-making and proactive communication will be essential in shifting perceptions and rebuilding public trust.
Ultimately, the optics around planning reflect real structural challenges – but also offer an opportunity. A system that is transparent, inclusive and efficient can support delivery while earning the public trust needed to sustain it.
Leon Murray is head of planning at CBRE Ireland
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Despite the politics, Ireland is Israel's second biggest export market for goods
Perhaps the most surprising statistic to tumble out of the ether in recent days – and into Ireland's increasingly fractious debate on the Occupied Territories Bill – relates to Israel 's exports to Ireland. Figures from the UN's trade database, Comtrade, reveal that Ireland, despite its outspoken stance on Israel, is Tel Aviv's second most important export market for goods behind the US. The Comtrade figures show Israel exported $61.7 billion worth of merchandise in 2024. The biggest importers of those Israeli products were the US with $17.3 billion, followed by Ireland with $3.3 billion and China with $2.9 billion. This makes Ireland, Israel's most important European market for goods exports ahead of the Netherlands ($2.7 billion), Germany ($2.4 billion), the UK ($1.6 billion), Belgium ($1.5 billion) and France ($1.4 billion). READ MORE The figures provide a curious counterpoint to the frayed diplomatic relations between Dublin and Tel Aviv. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) provisionally estimates that Ireland imported €3.83 billion ($4.4 billion) of goods from Israel last year, which is even higher than Comtrade's estimate. Over 95 per cent of this trade (€3.65 billion) falls into the 'electrical machinery, apparatus, and appliances' category, the CSO said.. In Comtrade's categorisation, the bulk of the trade is covered by the 8542 category which applies to 'electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies'. Anecdotal evidence suggests this – in the main – relates to chip manufacturer Intel in Leixlip importing inputs from its sister Intel plant in Kiryat Gat, Israel, which would not be affected by the Occupied Territories Bill provisions. Ireland's dialled-up rhetoric against Israel (Taoiseach Micheál Martin now explicitly accuses it of genocide, having previously accused it of 'genocidal acts') sits uneasily with the economy's links to corporate America. However, apart from a warning from former US ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin, last year that Ireland's proposed Occupied Territories Bill (banning the sale or import of goods from illegally occupied Palestinian territory) would have 'consequences', both the US and Ireland have largely ignored their potential point of division, perhaps to Israel's annoyance. Government sources claim Ireland's business ties with the US 'aren't overly strained' by the Government's stance on Israel and that tariffs are the main focus at present. With Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu now lashing out at allies France, Britain and Canada, accusing them of being 'on the wrong side of history' and 'emboldening Hamas' for criticising Tel Aviv, Ireland's stance has more political cover. Shifting global opinion Last month, EU foreign ministers from 17 member states (a majority) backed a Dutch proposal to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the free trade agreement that allows Israel sell some €15 billion a year of arms, wine, cosmetics and other items to Europe on preferential terms. This marked something of a turning point in the bloc's attitude to Israel. A year ago, when Ireland and Spain, the European governments most vocal about Israel's actions in Gaza, pushed for a review, they garnered little support. But Israel's three-month blockade of Gaza, stopping food and aid getting into the Palestinian enclave, has burnt through the political capital Israel traditionally has with the EU and with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen who has – until now -sought to preserve EU-Israeli ties. In a marked difference in tone last week, she described Israel's attacks on civilians as 'abhorrent' and something that 'cannot be justified under humanitarian and international law'. The EU's review will examine whether Israel is in breach of article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which defines respect for human rights as an 'essential element' of the agreement. Given the scale of Israeli atrocities in Gaza, backed by findings from the UN, international courts and other agencies, it's hard to see how Israel could not be found to be in breach. The review might be complete before the next EU foreign ministers' meeting on June 23rd, creating a potential flashpoint in EU-Israeli relations. How EU sanctions against Isreal – if it comes to that – will wash with the US and impact delicate trade negotiations is impossible to say. The EU as a bloc is Israel's largest trading partner, accounting for 29 per cent of its trade in goods in 2022, so trade sanctions would be consequential for Tel Aviv. But insiders suggest that while the review will be critical of Israel, the EU will resist going down the sanctions route given the opposition to those in some quarters. Hungary, which intends to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) in protest at its issuing of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, recently hosted the Israeli prime minister on a state visit despite of and in defiance of the warrant. 'I don't think EU sanctions will be forthcoming in the short term. There isn't unanimity for this,' a Government source said, albeit noting that negative noise among EU member states is growing.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Ireland's economic data is bonkers but puts us in the spotlight
Most of us are so busy with work, family and friends that there is little time to ponder macro-economic trends. But, as Cliff Taylor observes this weekend, something is happening which is worth our attention, not least as there is a decent chance it may trickle down and start to impact our day to day lives. On Thursday some figures were published which were – according to Taylor – 'mind-bending' and 'bonkers' . In simple terms the figures suggested that for every €1 of activity last year, there was €1.22 in 2025, a rise of 22 per cent. READ MORE As Taylor notes this data bares no relation to the world in which we all live, work and make purchasing decisions. Instead, what is happening is Ireland's economic data is entirely distorted by the activities and tax planning of a tiny number of big pharma firms rushing to get drugs and key ingredients into the US market before Donald Trump announces tariffs on the sector. This led to a surge in exports from Ireland last month. But, as Taylor notes, 'let's not pretend this won't be noticed'. 'Our latest bout of data exceptionalism again puts Ireland in the spotlight, when it would have been better to keep the head down. 'It underlines the outsize take Ireland is getting from pharma and tech activity in the EU – both contentious points in the White House. 'Notably, the US added Ireland to an economic watch list this week, based on the size of our trade surplus.' Taylor says Ireland's corporate tax take and manufacturing base are looked on enviously not only from the US, but from Europe. How does all this matter to the average person? Well the figures again underline Ireland's huge reliance on the opaque affairs of four or five massive companies. And their volatility. Whatever about wild fluctuations within one month, what happens in the longer term is key. 'Will these pharma giants decide over time – and it would take years – to relocate some of their production to the US? Will their profits and thus tax payments here be hit by Trump's policies? Or will they – or some of the tech giants – alter their corporate structures so that they pay significantly less tax here,' Taylor asks? Ireland's vulnerability is clear. Separate data last week showed tax revenues from corporation tax was 30 per cent lower in May compared with the same month last year. Leaving aside a range of reasons for the sharp fall, in simple cents and euros this means, as of today, Government has €1 billion less to spend on houses, teachers, nurses in its bugdet for 2026 than it did from this source at this time last year. As Taylor writes what happens next 'comes down to whether Trump's policies change the way the economic and corporate world operates fundamentally, a fair bit or not much. 'As Ireland benefits from the current system so much, the more it changes, the more risks there are for us.' Five Key Reads The Dublin scout leader and the men who accuse him of abuse: Neville Kearns died in a crash in 2024, a day before he was due to stand trial on charges relating to assault, rape and attempted rape of boys in the 1980s and 1990s. Órla Ryan reports on this previously untold story. A guide to who owns St Stephen's Green: Historically linked to an anti-duelling group, Daniel O'Connell and the East India Company, today properties on 'the Green' house the offices of global corporations, an online retail giant and private clubs. Who owns them? Colm Keena investigates. The beaches here in Israel are full: Paul Kearns reports from Tel Aviv , where he says Israelis find themselves now living between two realities. There is the dystopian reality of Gaza next door, and then there is life in Israel, which has returned to relative normality. Co Kildare village to lose its last shop: Stephen Farrell reports from Johnstown , where for many, the impending closure of the shop is further evidence of the hollowing out of a village and its environs, which has more than 1,300 inhabitants who already have no school or post office. Dublin tenants shocked to be evicted due to 'little-known legal loophole': Kitty Holland reports how for a group of people in Applewood village in Swords , the landlord doesn't need a reason to remove them. As always, there is much more on , including rundowns of all the latest movies in our film reviews , tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest in sport . There are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here . We value your views. Please feel free to send comments, feedback or suggestions for topics you would like to see covered to feedback@ .
Irish Times
6 hours ago
- Irish Times
After years of economic calm, Ireland could be facing a storm. Are we better prepared this time?
On the day that Brian Cowen was elected taoiseach on May 7th, 2008, one of the headlines in The Irish Times read 'Poor old unlucky Bertie '. The Mahon tribunal had stampeded through Ahern's murky personal finances with a coach and four earlier that year, and Ahern had no choice but to fall on his sword. His successor Brian Cowen had been Fianna Fáil 's dauphin prince for a decade. In a for-once becalmed and benign Dáil, he listened as party leaders heaped praise on him and wished him well. In his own speech, he said he wanted to care for the less well-off in society and create 'caring and compassionate communities'. That day was as good as it got for Cowen. A retrospective headline could have read: 'Poor old unlucky Biffo'. And as for Bertie? He dodged a bullet that day. The first slate clouds of the coming storm were massing just over the horizon. READ MORE There were some small signs already evident. The State's revenues in the first four months of the year had fallen alarmingly. Yet, the Versailles levels of spending continued apace. [ Is this Government repeating the mistakes of 2008? Opens in new window ] That was only the beginning of the tragedy that was to unfold for Cowen and for the State. By June came the confirmation of a slump in house sales, and a significant downturn in bank profitability. The late Brian Lenihan mused that month it was just his luck to become minister for finance at the moment the building boom had come a 'shuddering halt'. The government began to batten down the hatches but the hurricane had already made landfall. Those who write about politics love the phrase of George Santayana's that 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' Since the economic crash there have been several extraordinary events that might have presented credible threats to political stability across Ireland, Europe and the world: Brexit; the Covid-19 pandemic; the war in Ukraine; the energy crisis; the terrible events of October 7th and the unspeakable annihilation of Gaza by Israel. Now we have a bellicose Trump presidency, brimful with threats and tariffs. [ Corporate tax take tumbles 30% for May with €1.1bn less over same month last year Opens in new window ] The State has somehow managed to weather all those storms. That has been partly thanks to huge windfalls from corporation tax that have given Ireland a buffer from the worst impacts of Covid and the cost-of-living crisis. Annual once-off payments for households became the norm during the last Dáil term. Seemingly, our economy still retains the knack of defying gravity. Two sets of figures, published on Thursday, suggest that all looks good for the public finances. The Department of Finance confirmed there has been an increase of 3.6 per cent in tax revenue so far this year. Economic growth also looks strong. According to CSO data, gross domestic product (GDP) grew by almost 10 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, driven by a surge in exports. When President Trump started sabre-rattling about tariffs earlier this year, many people discovered for the first time the kind of astronomical figures associated with multinationals based here. Exports to the US from Ireland were worth €68 billion in 2024, two-thirds of which came from pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Beneath that veneer lies a more complicated scenario. Since 2011 there have been two parallel Irish economies, a global one and a domestic one. During the best years, GDP figures have been spectacular. But the picture was distorted. That part of the economy that doesn't feature gleaming towers in the Docklands, space-age pharmaceutical companies or aircraft leasing was lagging behind dramatically. This economy is made up of PAYE employees, or people working in less glamorous sectors, and those in the gig economy. Their reality has been a constant struggle to pay bills as prices escalate, to meet childcare costs, to scrape together enough to pay the mortgage or rent and put petrol in their cars. A new category, modified domestic demand (MDD), was created to better reflect that domestic economy. For example, when you strip out the multinationals, growth in MDD was less than 1 per cent in the first quarter of 2025. Not tanking by any means. But slowing. Tax take also seems to be holding up overall in 2025. However, the picture is complicated by the Apple tax money. When that is excluded, corporation tax is no longer up 18 per cent, but is more than 9 per cent down on the same period last year. Is that a sign that that ATM is finally running out of cash? It feels hard to escape from the sense that after years of generally smooth cruising, we are now facing turbulence. You can see signs of that wariness at institutional level. The Government has said categorically there will be no once-off payments this year. It has also revoked a plan to extend statutory sick-leave entitlements by two days. Sensibly, too, it has began an urgent all-hands-on-deck diplomatic and trade offensive to diversify away from the US and open up new markets elsewhere. One thing that has been reminiscent of the Celtic Tiger over the past decade is the willingness of governments to spend a lot of money. The capital housing budget has had a fivefold increase from €1.2 billion in 2017 to €6 billion in 2025. The health budget has almost doubled in the same period, up from €14.6 billion in 2017 to €25.8 billion this year. Overall State expenditure topped €100 billion for the first time in 2024. That's all well and good, unless we encounter a 2008-style collapse in revenue. Are we better prepared for the coming storm than 17 years ago? The answer is probably yes but even that might not inure us.
