Important changes to planning law are taking effect as the Planning and Development Act 2024 is being commenced on a phased basis.

Reviews Programme

The Planning and Development Act 2024 gives the OPR the discretion to review how planning bodies carry out their work.

This includes reviewing:

  • Local authorities
  • An Coimisiún Pleanála
  • The Regional Assemblies

These powers allow the OPR to oversee how planning services are delivered to the public and help ensure the planning system works fairly, consistently and transparently.

Through these reviews, we:

  • Identify good practice and achievements
  • Support learning across organisations
  • Highlight areas where services can improve

Overall, our goal is to support continuous improvement across the Irish planning system.

Reviews Programme Updates

Office of the Planning Regulator Publishes Galway County Council Planning Review (February 2026)

Office of the Planning Regulator Publishes Roscommon County Council Planning Review (March 2025)

About Local Authority Reviews

About Local Authority Reviews

 The Office’s approach allows us to:

  • Monitor performance across the sector
  • Identify shared challenges
  • Promote learning between planning officials

The reviews are designed as a developmental support, not an inspection. The recommendations focus on improving planning services.

 Following up on recommendations

We continue our engagement after each review is completed to:

  • Track progress on agreed recommendations
  • Support implementation

This follow-up process is essential to ensure the review leads to real improvements.

About Reviews of An Coimisiún Pleanála (formerly An Bord Pleanála)

Our role

An Coimisiún Pleanála also comes under the OPR’s remit.

 2022 review

In 2022, the OPR carried out a review of An Bord Pleanála (now An Coimisiún Pleanála).
The review:

  • Took place over two phases
  • Was supported by external experts
  • Examined decision-making, governance, work organisation and case handling

Two reports were published, setting out 34 recommendations.

The recommendations supported major organisational reform, including:

  • New governance and compliance arrangements
  • Organisational restructuring and capacity building
  • Improved legal and case management systems
  • Clearer decision-making processes
  • Stronger engagement with stakeholders

As committed to in our Strategy Statement, the Office is conducting local authority planning reviews as a rolling programme, whereby each authority will in turn benefit from having the OPR look at how it delivers its planning services. This allows the OPR to monitor the general performance of the local authority planning sector and to identify areas for improvement and shared learning across all 31 local authorities.

The programme is intended as a developmental resource for the planning system, with recommendations arising from the process that are designed to enhance the delivery of services to the public.

Monitoring the implementation of OPR recommendations is essential to ensure the integrity of the process. Following the completion of each review the Office continues to engage with each local authority. The OPR engages with each authority at six-monthly intervals to ensure the successful implementation of review recommendations.

Completed reviews

A pilot phase of the local authority reviews programme was conducted between 2021 and 2022 with the completion of four planning reviews – Tipperary County Council, Louth County Council, Galway City Council and Kildare County Council.

The review process was piloted through this initial group of local authorities which, when taken together, provided an excellent representative sample of national planning contexts, comprising a blend of characteristics and scale over a regional spread of locations.

The Office completed reviews of Waterford City & County Council and Offaly County Council during 2023, Meath County Council and South Dublin County Council in 2024 and Roscommon County Council in 2025. Implementation of the reviews programme will continue throughout 2026, with a continued focus in the scheduling of authorities on ensuring a balance of regional locations and planning contexts.

 

The OPR also has statutory responsibility for reviewing the systems and procedures used by An Coimisiún Pleanála in the performance of its planning functions.

Given the fundamental role it plays as the top-tier of the planning system, and the scale of functions associated with that role, it is considered that An Coimisiún Pleanála will benefit from an approach that sees reviews scheduled on a recurrent basis alongside the wider multi-annual local authority reviews programme. This will allow for the progressive review of discrete modules, phased at regular intervals, addressing various areas of performance.

The OPR oversaw an initial review process in relation to the functioning of An Bord Pleanála (now An Coimisiún Pleanála) during 2022. This was carried out over two phases with the assistance of experienced external experts. The emphasis of the review was on examining the robustness and effectiveness of decision-making practices, the organisation of work, governance arrangements and casefile handling, as well as reporting on wider relevant structural issues.

Two separate reports were produced on foot of this process containing 34 wide-ranging recommendations. These recommendations included measures designed to improve capacity to deliver timely and robust planning decisions, enhance corporate management and improve arrangements for internal governance and procedural transparency.

The review recommendations were accepted and implemented, paving the way for the organisation’s restructuring as An Coimisiún Pleanála. While a broad programme of renewal was implemented, some key measures included organisational restructuring and capacity building, new governance arrangements (including the establishment of a Compliance & Ethics Unit and development of a revised Code of Conduct), enhanced legal support, improved case management and decision-making processes, as well as a renewed focus on engagement with stakeholders.

Read our Local Authority Reviews

Read our Reviews of An Coimisiún Pleanála

Local Authority Reviews Methodology

To give structure and guide the programme, a methodology for conducting reviews of local authorities was formulated in 2020. The methodology was developed with the assistance of the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage, the National Oversight & Audit Commission, representatives of the local government sector, An Coimisiún Pleanála, the national planning institutes and wider stakeholders. The methodology is updated on an ongoing basis as lessons are learnt through the rollout of the overall programme.

OPR reviews consider the systems and procedures used by local authorities in the context of a number of key areas of statutory planning service delivery. The Office will analyse performance under these headings utilising a range of available evidence as well as information and reports provided by the local authority being reviewed. The Office will also conduct fieldwork, visiting the local authority offices and engaging with planning department staff through workshops.

Reviews Methodology
Information Request Sent to Local Authorities

Disclaimer

The Planning and Development Act 2024 was signed into law on 17 October 2024. The Act is being commenced on a phased basis to facilitate a smooth transition from the existing legislation to the new legislation. It is important to note that transitional arrangements are in place. This means that certain elements of the work of the OPR remain under the previous legislation during this time.

This website will be updated at the earliest opportunity to correspond with the commencement of the various Parts of the Act.

Information on the commencement of the Act is available on the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage website.

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