Ireland’s planning system ‘no longer fit for purpose’, experts warn

Veteran architect Tony Reddy warns Ireland’s outdated planning system risks derailing housing delivery, infrastructure, and investment unless urgent reforms are made

Cork’s Glanmire and Tivoli (south) docks will see major future residential growth.

Remember the classic Irish joke about someone asking for directions to a desired destination and being told “if I were you, I wouldn’t start from here”. Sounds like the Irish planning system, doesn’t it?

Planning here seems to be at variance with – at the very top – the grandiose, aspirational yet vague national plans for development, including housing and infrastructure to cope with a population surge of up to one million by 2040.