New bill aims to introduce 10-year county development plans

Sources said that the new bill will also introduce time limits for how long an application should take, as well as changing the scope and nature of An Bord Pleanála.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has dismissed concerns that the new Planning Bill will limit the access of members of the public to legal challenges to planning applications. Picture: Michelle Devane/PA Wire

The timeframe for county development plans is to be extended from every six years to every 10 years as part of Ireland's overhaul of planning legislation.

The Attorney General will next week bring a consolidated Planning Bill to Cabinet, aimed at drastically overhauling Ireland's planning regime. Part of that work will be to change the length of time over which counties set out their development plans.