Revised National Planning Framework now approved by Oireachtas
- Published on: 30 April 2025
- Last updated on: 1 May 2025
Both Houses of the Oireachtas have approved the first revision to the National Planning Framework (NPF). The approval by the Seanad and the Dáil followed the decision of Government to approve the Draft Final Revised NPF on 8 April.
A detailed and comprehensive revision process has been underway since June 2023 and has included significant stakeholder engagement in addition to national public consultation on the Draft Revised NPF between 10 July and 12 September 2024.
The revised NPF will now directly inform the wider government policy agenda, the actions of a broad range of public and private bodies, including homebuilders, the renewable energy sector, infrastructure agencies and domestic and international investors.
Speaking today, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne stated:
“This revised National Planning Framework reflects the significant changes in Ireland since the original framework was published in 2018. It is also another vital building block in our plans to accelerate the delivery of housing.
“The revised framework allows us to plan for the provision of the right number of homes in the right places - including new sustainable communities at brownfield and greenfield locations along existing or planned high capacity public transport corridors.
“Now approved by the Oireachtas, this Plan will allow for reviews of current regional strategies and local authority development plans to reflect today’s reality and to ensure the zoning of land for residential, employment and a range of other purposes meets our country’s needs. I will be communicating directly to local authorities, emphasising that I expect them to translate the additional housing requirements of this revised NPF into their own local plans as soon as possible.
“Ireland needs a step change in the delivery of housing. With this revised NPF – as well as a new Housing Activation Office and the new Planning and Development Act being implemented this year – I am ensuring that that the vital conditions for the accelerated delivery of new homes are put in place.”
The Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning, John Cummins today added:
"Guidance will now issue to give clarity to local authorities so that they may translate the revised housing requirements at a national level into their city and county development plans and identify the right amount of zoned land that will be required to increase housing output in their respective counties.
“With the right regional strategies and local development plans in place - aligned with the NPF - we can ensure that we have regional and local approaches that accurately reflect housing need, projected jobs growth and renewable energy capacity allocations and that we are building today for the Ireland of tomorrow.”
Drivers of revision
Since the publication of the NPF in 2018, a number of changes have occurred in Ireland, which the revised framework addresses.
A number of key drivers of change in Ireland were a significant focus for the revision process, and the final framework document sets a transformational agenda to cater for:
Population growth and the associated housing requirement
The need to plan for a population of between 6.1 to 6.3 million people by 2040, and plan for approximately 50,000 units per annum over that period, to meet additional population and employment growth over and above the original 2018 NPF projections. This reflects the latest research and modelling by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), which forecasts substantial population growth over the next decade. The Revised NPF, with the subsequent provision of updated planned housing requirements at a local authority level, aims to ensure that housing supply meets both new demand and addresses existing need, creating a sustainable future for housing in Ireland.
Infrastructure Delivery
In order to ensure that the revised population projections and related housing requirements can be delivered on, service provision will also require co-ordination and prioritisation to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place, both to support and enable housing development to take place, and to ensure that housing delivery is aligned with the provision of services and facilities for communities. This includes the provision of education, childcare, healthcare and recreational facilities to support the expansion of existing settlements and the creation of new sustainable communities.
In addition to accounting for the ESRI’s baseline projection of 6.1m people by 2040, the NPF also includes provision for strategic planning for up to 6.3 million people by 2040 (the ESRI high migration scenario), which is required to be aligned with strategic planning for Transport Orientated Development (TOD) in and around Ireland’s five cities to support the delivery of new sustainable communities at brownfield and greenfield locations along existing or planned high capacity public transport corridors.
The implementation of the NPF will continue to align with the National Development Plan and form as one single vision for Ireland under ‘Project Ireland 2040’ to be fully supported by the government’s investment strategy for public capital investment and investment by the State sector in general.
Climate and Environment
A further significant area of policy development relates to planning for climate change in the context of an accelerating climate crisis. Accordingly, the revised NPF has included new policies in relation to renewable energy, including the identification of regional renewable electricity capacity allocations in order to facilitate the accelerated roll-out and delivery of renewable electricity infrastructure for on-shore wind and solar generation development and to support the achievement of the 2030 national targets set out in the Climate Action Plan.
The Revised NPF also acknowledges the clear link between climate action and the potential for investment generation and employment and jobs, including in connection with the offshore wind industry and green technology.
How the NPF will be translated into Regional and Local Planning Policies
The revised NPF will provide the basis for the review and updating of regional strategies and local authority development plans to reflect matters such as updated housing figures, projected jobs growth and renewable energy capacity allocations, including through the zoning of land for residential, employment and a range of other purposes. The implementation of the Planning and Development Act 2024 will also be closely aligned with the implementation of the revised NPF, with updated regional strategies and new 10-year development plans required to reflect the revised NPF as they are prepared.
There is a need to plan for a significant increase in the capacity to deliver housing across the country to meet population projections and associated housing requirements. Having regard to the need to ensure that current local authority development plans can be updated as quickly as possible to reflect the update housing requirements, it is intended to issue further policy direction to local authorities as quickly as possible now that the NPF Revision process has been completed, thereby translating updated NPF population and housing figures to the local authority level.
The revision to local plans and the associated zoning changes will be undertaken as part of a wider assessment at city/county level, to ensure that we have a strong strategic plan-led approach to future housing development that is based on the relevant up to date legislative and policy framework.
Implementing the NPF revisions in this manner will ensure that future decisions in relation to planning applications can be made in a robust and efficient manner, assisted by the statutory decision-making timelines contained within the Planning and Development Act 2024.
A copy of the Revised National Planning Framework can be accessed on the National Planning Framework Website.