National Planning Framework
National Planning Framework: First Revision
The national planning strategy to 2040, as revised in April 2025: where growth goes, and the national policy objectives regional and local plans must be consistent with.
Government of Ireland · April 2025 · 195 pages
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- Shanganagh Castle – Land Development Agency Shanganagh Castle is the first major Direct Delivery project undertaken by the Land Development Agency. In keeping with its mission to unlock state land and deliver largescale affordable housing projects, the Agency partnered with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to build almost 600 homes in Shankhill in Co. Dublin. Construction began on site in September 2022 and keys to the first homes will be handed over in autumn 2024. The LDA’s core purpose goes beyond building homes, it is creating thriving sustainable communities, which deliver a positive social impact. Shanganagh is designed to the highest international environmental standards and marks a new departure in sustainable construction methods. Once completed, it will be the largest development in Europe to be built to fully passive house standard. Active travel and community integration is a key consideration, with a large focus on bicycle parking provision, working from home features, communal green and play spaces, and dedicated crèche, café and community facilities. The development is also well served by existing public transport on the N11 and will be within 10 minutes’ walk of the proposed DART station at Woodbrook as well as a new BusConnects route. The homes are made up of 546 studio, one, two, three and four bed apartments and 51 two and three bed terraces houses. These will be available under social, cost-rental and affordable to buy schemes. Case Study National Planning Framework First Revision | Page 59
- There have been notable urban renewal and rejuvenation successes in Ireland. Dublin’s Docklands, once one of the most disadvantaged and run-down parts of the City, today accommodates many thousands of people working and living in an attractive and desirable area that has been regenerated to a world class standard. There are many other good examples of urban, town, village and rural renewal. Since 2018, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) has part-funded regeneration and rejuvenation projects in Ireland’s five cities and other large towns. Currently, the URDF part- funds 132 projects, comprising of almost 400 subprojects, across the country. More compact and sustainable development involves a greater proportion of residential and mixed- use development within the existing built-up footprints of our cities and towns. This will ensure more parts of our urban areas become attractive and vibrant places in which to live, work, visit and invest. Learning from our past successes, the Government established the Land Development Agency (LDA)24 in 2021 as a commercial, State sponsored body that has been created to coordinate land within public ownership to deliver affordable and social homes, and to work with local authorities and other agencies to drive strategic renewal opportunities and the building of sustainable communities across Ireland. National Policy Objective 21 The Government will support the LDA, in association with Local Authorities, to fulfil its statutory mandate to deliver a significant number of homes on State lands in major mixed tenure developments, with a particular focus on brownfield and infill urban sites in the five main cities and regional centres as a priority. 24 Refer to the Land Development Agency, Sustainable Development Strategy 2024-2028. Performance-Based Design Standards Infill and brownfield development is more challenging to deliver than greenfield development for a variety of reasons, including land management but also the challenge of integrating with existing communities, who may have a preference for the status quo to be retained, even if that might reduce opportunities for rejuvenation and drive urban expansion outwards. To enable brownfield and infill development, planning policies and standards need to be flexible, focusing on design-led and performance-based outcomes, rather than specifying absolute requirements in all cases. Performance-Based Design Standards are a goaloriented design approach which involve developing standards to achieve a particular outcome (for example, preventing undue overshadowing) rather than applying rigid quantitative standards in all cases (for example, mandatory separation distances). Performance criteria are the indicators that are identified in assessing the outcome. Although sometimes necessary to safeguard against poor quality design, planning standards should be flexibly applied in response to well-designed development proposals that can achieve urban infill and brownfield development objectives in settlements of all sizes. In particular, general restrictions on building height or universal standards for car parking, separation distances or garden size may not be applicable in all circumstances in urban areas and should be replaced by performance-based criteria appropriate to general location, e.g. city/ town/ village centre, urban neighbourhood, public transport interchange, suburban or edge location etc. A more dynamic performance-based approach appropriate to location will also enable the level of public transport service to improve as more development occurs and vice-versa. An important first step in prioritising infill and brownfield development is the identification of these opportunity sites in the local authority development plan. As part of the ‘Settlement Capacity Audit’ prepared as an input to the Development Plan process, local authorities should map brownfield/ infill sites that have regeneration and development potential and publish the outputs. The Urban Development and Building Height Guidelines issued in 2018 and the Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines issued in 2024 under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act (as amended), provide detailed guidance and standards in support of NPO22. Page 60 | National Planning Framework First Revision
- National Policy Objective 22 In urban areas, planning and related standards, including in particular building height and car parking will be based on performance criteria that seek to achieve well-designed high quality outcomes in order to achieve targeted growth. This more dynamic approach will also be applied to urban land use, where the existing character of land use in an urban area may be subject to change. This should generally be as part of an overall area or master plan and/or be suitable for application on an incremental basis. National Planning Framework First Revision | Page 61
- Planning for Diverse Rural Places5 Page 62 | National Planning Framework First Revision
- 5.1 Why Rural Places Matter Rural areas make a major contribution to Ireland’s identity and to overall national development in economic, social, cultural and environmental terms. Rural areas, including Gaeltacht regions and Ireland’s inhabited offshore islands, hold much of Ireland’s natural resources, biodiversity, environmental qualities and landscape and contribute in a unique way to Ireland’s culture. Well over a third of Irish people live outside cities and towns and this proportion increases to half of the population, if smaller towns and villages are included. Rural areas are also a focus for working and for recreational activities. The agri-food and tourism sectors, which are particularly important for rural economies, employ in excess of 430,000 people (18% of the national workforce). Rural Ireland has faced challenges in recent decades, such as the loss of traditional industries and employment, emigration and poor connectivity. The emergence of new technologies and improved infrastructural connectivity provide opportunities for diversification into new employment sectors and to build on the success of many Irish and foreign-owned companies supporting employment in rural areas. The National Planning Framework places a major focus on rural areas in relation to: Strengthening Ireland’s rural fabric and supporting the communities who live there; Planning for the future growth and development of rural areas, including addressing decline, with a special focus on activating the potential for the renewal and development of smaller towns and villages; Putting in place planning and investment policies to support job creation in the rural economy; Addressing a range of connectivity gaps; Better co-ordination of existing investment programmes dealing with social inclusion, rural development and town and village renewal. Since the NPF was published in 2018, recognising the importance of policy alignment across Government to deliver on the aims and objectives of the NPF, complementary policies including the Government’s rural development policy Our Rural Future 2021-2025 and islands policy Our Living Islands: the National Islands Policy 2023-2033 were published by the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD). Our Rural Future sets out a vision for a thriving rural Ireland. That vision is built on the talent, skills and creativity of people in rural communities, on the importance of vibrant and lived-in rural places and on the potential to create quality jobs and sustain our shared environment. The framework recognises that towns and villages are at the heart of social and economic activity in rural Ireland. The regeneration, repopulation and development of rural towns and villages is a key policy focus particularly in relation to the reuse of vacant properties. To this end policy measures are being implemented in order to optimise digital connectivity, support employment, revitalise rural towns and villages, enhance participation, leadership and resilience in rural communities, enhance public services, transition to a climate neutral society, support the agriculture, marine and forestry sectors in a sustainable manner, and support Islands and coastal communities. Our Living Islands reflects the ambition to ensure our offshore islands continue to support sustainable and vibrant communities and allow for a continuing sustainable tourism product. The policy’s initial Action Plan 2023 – 2026, sets out numerous actions under the five strategic objectives: Revitalise population levels on the islands; Diversify island economics; Enhance health and wellbeing services; Empower Island Communities; Build smart sustainable futures. 5.2 Strengthening Ireland’s Rural Fabric and Supporting Rural Communities People in Ireland have a strong connection with rural areas for a number of different reasons. For some, it is the place in which they have chosen to live and work, where the land not only provides a home, but also provides an income. There are many examples of vibrant rural communities right across Ireland, in towns, villages and the countryside as well as on our islands. There are clearly differences between types of rural areas and rural communities, including scale, accessibility, the influence of neighbouring urban centres, natural resource assets and access to infrastructure and services. Our islands and coastal areas contain some of our most vibrant and culturally distinctive communities, with the majority of our inhabited islands lying off the western seaboard of Counties Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry and Cork. They are an integral part of the State’s heritage and have a special significance in Irish culture. National Planning Framework First Revision | Page 63
- While there are many hundreds of small islands off the coast of Ireland, including Gaeltacht islands25 approximately 65 of these support settled populations. As a result of their location, they are highly dependent on tourism, agriculture and fishing but equally are adept at self-reliance and have a very strong sense of identity (refer to section 6.3: The Irish language and the Gaeltacht). Safe and regular access to the offshore islands has been significantly advanced in recent years through passenger and cargo ferry services or new or significantly upgraded pier and landing facilities. This capital investment, in both infrastructure and services, continues to support the sustainability of island communities. However, rural communities are also facing challenges. These range from urban generated pressures in some locations, to a declining and ageing population, the structure of the economy and lack of access to quality infrastructure and new technologies, in others. In response to some of these challenges, Our Rural Future and Our Living Islands policy document and Action Plans sets out the Government’s approach for rural places and island communities in Ireland to grow and adapt through supportive measures which encourage innovation and build on the existing strengths of rural communities in Ireland. The Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal particularly for rural communities and older citizens living in more remote areas. The Department of Transport has established the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan where over 100 rural villages will benefit from frequent public transport service (at least three return trips daily) for the first time. The Plan will also see a 25% overall increase in rural bus services, and over 60 new connections to regional cities from surrounding areas. TFI Local Link continues to be provided to address rural social exclusion. Funding for TFI Local Link has increased from €12 million in 2016 to €57 million in 2024. Passenger numbers have increased from 1.76 million passengers in 2015 to 3.2 million in 2023. Rural communities, and particularly those engaged in farming, operate as custodians of the landscape by undertaking agricultural land management at varying scales. However, the viability of many landholdings is such that around 57% of farm families now depend on off-farm employment, much of which is focused on urban settlements26. Alternative land uses such as forestry and renewable energy related development are also becoming more prevalent. 25 The term ‘Gaeltacht’ is used to denote those areas in Ireland where the Irish language is, or was until the recent past, the main spoken language of a substantial number of the local population. 26 Annual Review and Outlook for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 2023 27 350,461 people in Census 2022 (18% of the population of rural areas). 28 1,869,099 people in Census 2022 (36% of the population in 2022) National Policy Objective 23 Protect and promote the sense of place and culture and the quality, character and distinctiveness of the Irish rural landscape including island communities that make Ireland’s rural areas authentic and attractive as places to live, work and visit. Any successor policy documents relating to national policy for rural areas and the islands will ensure continued alignment and consistency with the National Policy Objectives of this Framework. 5.3 Planning for the Future Growth and Development of Rural Areas Neither all rural areas nor all of the communities that make up the fabric of rural Ireland are identical. Rural areas are also distinct and separate to the urban and outer urban areas that exist in our towns and cities. As a result, they require a different approach to urban or suburban development. The spatial, social and economic disparities between rural areas are a reflection of the fact that stronger rural areas tend to be located in a geographically advantageous place, and also have the human and social capital to address their needs and respond effectively to emerging opportunities and strategies. Rural communities across Ireland function well beyond their immediate catchments and have a strong interrelationship with adjacent towns and villages, often beyond county or regional boundaries. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) defines rural as the areas outside settlements with a population of 1,500 or more people. This includes smaller settlements of fewer than 1,500 people, home to around 18% of the population of rural areas27, and individual dwellings in the countryside, which together comprised approximately 36% of the population in 202228. This reflects Ireland’s historic rural and village settlement pattern. It is important to also recognise that there are many towns and villages with populations of more than 1,500 people that are intrinsic to sustaining viable rural communities and do not function independently of their rural hinterland. Page 64 | National Planning Framework First Revision
- In planning for the future integrated growth and development of rural areas, settlements with a population of 10,000 people or fewer, are eligible for investment under either the Rural or Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, subject to the nature of the proposal29. In support of the overall pattern of rural and small town development in Ireland, this Framework seeks to protect areas that are under strong urban influence from unsustainable over-development on the one hand, and to encourage population to be sustained in more structurally weak areas, that have experienced low growth or decline in recent decades, on the other, while sustaining vibrant rural communities. National Policy Objective 24 Support the sustainable development of rural areas by encouraging growth and arresting decline in areas that have experienced low population growth or decline in recent decades and by managing the growth of areas that are under strong urban influence to avoid overdevelopment, while sustaining vibrant rural communities. 29 Refer to Chapter 10: Implementation. Rural Towns Rural towns function as local drivers for their surrounding areas through well-established economic, administrative and social functions. They support clusters of services, have a significant share of homes and jobs, and act as hubs for a much wider rural community. There is a distinction between rural areas located within the commuter catchment of the five city regions and large towns and those that are outside commuter catchments. In rural areas accessible to cities and towns, commuter-generated housing has affected the character and cohesion of some locations. In other, less accessible rural areas, it has been challenging to retain and/or develop community and social facilities and local infrastructure as populations decline. As a consequence of changing settlement patterns in Ireland, building vacancy in rural towns and villages has become increasingly prevalent, resulting in the demise of the historic vibrancy and vitality of town and village centres. The re-use and regeneration of these buildings are essential catalysts to transforming the capacity and potential of smaller towns and villages in Ireland. Government is committed to tackling vacancy in both urban and rural environments and there are a number of initiatives now in place in order to support this. One of the key objectives of Our Rural Future is revitalising rural towns and villages by investing in projects which support economic activity, increasing footfall, encouraging town centre living and combatting vacancy and dereliction. Rural towns function as local drivers for their surrounding areas through well-established economic, administrative and social functions. They support clusters of services, have a significant share of homes and jobs, and act as hubs for a much wider rural community. Sational Planning Framework First Revision | Page 65
- The Boyle Regeneration project was awarded RRDF funding of €2,565,491 for a project costing €3,420,655 under the first call for applications to the RRDF. The lead party is Roscommon County Council and partner organisations include Boyle Town Team and Boyle Chamber of Commerce, who provided the match funding towards the project. The project aimed to address dereliction and create a vibrant town centre offering. The project included the development of derelict Royal Hotel in Boyle into a multi-purpose space and works to adjacent Riverside Promenade. It has provided a community, cultural and business hub in the town’s previously vacant Royal Hotel and the development of a new River Promenade adjacent to the building which includes outdoor space for events and performances. The redeveloped three-storey Royal Hotel building includes: Exhibition space; Tourist information / Information hub; Outlet for craft /artisan products; 12 workspaces including meeting space and training rooms; Canteen and bathrooms. The riverside promenade includes outdoor event / performance space. This project forms part of a Masterplan for the town, “Boyle 2040”. Currently there are two further RRDF projects under development in the town Energising Boyle Town Centre and King House and Boyle Community Library. An Ríoga, Boyle Co. Roscommon Case Study Page 66 | National Planning Framework First Revision
- Town Centre First - A Policy Approach for Irish Towns provides a co-ordinated, whole-of-government policy framework to proactively address the decline in the health of towns across Ireland and supports measures to regenerate and revitalise them. It highlights how re-use and regeneration of vacant and derelict buildings can be an essential catalyst to transforming the capacity and potential of smaller towns in Ireland. The policy was launched in 2022 and 26 ‘Pathfinder towns’ were identified nationally to develop a community based Town Centre First Plan that will set out a vision for their town, and identify priority regeneration projects for subsequent appropriate funding applications and delivery. Further to the funding of the pilot 26 towns, a new package of supports will be launched in 2024 to expand on the delivery of the objectives within Town Centre First. In addition to the Rural Regeneration Development Fund (RRDF), the Department of Rural and Community Development also manages the Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) on behalf of local authorities. The TVRS Scheme, through both the main scheme and in the 2022 and 2023 Building Acquisition Measure, affords local authorities the opportunity to bring vacant and derelict buildings such as former Garda stations, schools, post offices, parish halls, restaurants, public houses and vacant sites back into use as multi-purpose spaces in our towns and villages. The Vacant Homes Action Plan30 also highlights the introduction of new schemes and grants that focus on the activation of vacant properties such as the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant and a pilot scheme to provide grants for expert conservation advice to owners of vacant farmhouses in private ownership, the Ready to Build Scheme and the Repair and Leasing Scheme. As set out in National Policy Objectives 14 and 15, the National Planning Framework seeks to strengthen and diversify rural towns to be a focus for local housing and employment growth, based on regeneration and development that will include derelict site transformation and new technology, such as low carbon and energy efficiency and digital connectivity. National Policy Objective 25 Target the reversal of rural decline in the core of small towns and villages through sustainable targeted measures that address vacant premises and deliver sustainable reuse and regeneration outcomes31. 30 Vacant Homes Action Plan 2023 - 2026 31 Refer to Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities The qualities and character of our national built heritage in rural areas, including towns and villages, can add distinctiveness to place-making and over time can acquire special interest through its intrinsic quality. This ‘sense of place’ is also becoming an important factor in attracting foreign direct investment and individual talent to Ireland. Our market towns and villages sit alongside more modern, but equally distinctive settlements that knit modern architecture with the existing historic urban heritage. Investment in our towns and villages through regeneration, public realm improvements and the appropriate adaptation and re-use of our built heritage, are key factors in developing, promoting and investing in a sense of place and aligning the objectives of creating high quality with that of spatial planning (refer to 9.3 Protecting Conserving and Enhancing our Natural Capital, sub-section Natural and Cultural Heritage). Rural town living requires a proportionate and tailored approach to residential development. This means that it is necessary to tailor the scale, design and layout of housing in rural towns to ensure that a suburban or high density urban approach is not applied to a rural setting and that development responds to the character, scale and density of the town. Opportunities exist to create the conditions to support residential development in rural towns, whether through parking and streetscape improvements, traffic diversions, the provision of small-scale urban amenities such as open spaces or playgrounds, the acquisition of key sites and/or the opening up or amalgamation of ‘backlands’ for residential development and the provision of services such as waste-water treatment. National Policy Objective 26 Continue to support the proportionate growth of and appropriately designed development in rural towns that will contribute to their regeneration and renewal, including interventions in the public realm, the provision of amenities, the acquisition of sites and the provision of services. In rural Ireland, many people seek the opportunity to build their own homes but find it difficult to do so in smaller settlements because of a lack of available sites and services. In order to assist this, the Ready to Build Scheme allows local authorities to make available serviced sites in towns and villages to potential individual purchasers (self-builders) for a discounted market value. National Planning Framework First Revision | Page 67
- Local Authorities are supported in undertaking the necessary land acquisition, site preparation and local infrastructure provision to deliver self-build development options in smaller towns/villages. National Policy Objective 27 Continue to support programmes for ‘new homes in small towns and villages’ with local authorities, public infrastructure agencies such as Uisce Éireann and local communities to provide serviced sites with appropriate infrastructure to attract people to build their own homes and live in small towns and villages. In all types of rural settlement, new housing should be tailored to the scale, form and character of the settlement and the design should respond in a positive way to established context to ensure that a suburban or high-density urban approach is not applied within a rural setting32. Countryside The Irish countryside is, and will continue to be, a living and lived-in landscape focusing on the requirements of rural economies and rural communities, based on agriculture, forestry, energy, inland waterways, marine, tourism and rural enterprise, while at the same time protecting the capacity of the receiving environment and avoiding ribbon and over-spill development from urban areas. 32 Refer to Section 3.0 Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities. It is recognised that there is a continuing need for housing provision for people to live and work in Ireland’s countryside. Careful planning is required to manage demand in our most accessible countryside around cities and towns, focusing on the elements required to support the sustainable growth of rural economies and rural communities. It is important to differentiate, on the one hand, between rural areas located within the commuter catchment of the five cities and our largest towns and centres of employment and, on the other hand, rural areas located outside these catchments. It will continue to be necessary to demonstrate a functional economic or social requirement for housing need in areas under urban influence, i.e. the commuter catchment of cities and large towns and centres of employment. This will also be subject to siting and design considerations. A more flexible approach, primarily based on siting and design, will be applied to rural housing in areas that are not subject to urban development pressure. This will assist in sustaining more fragile rural communities and in overall terms, will need to be related to the viability of smaller towns and rural settlements. This arises because in some locations, almost all recent single housing in the countryside has been developed privately, with social housing provided largely in settlements. In many parts of rural Ireland, where a significant majority of housing output is in the countryside, this has contributed to spatial and social imbalance and the decline in population of smaller settlements. As a result, many key services have closed, in part due to population decline, leaving more marginalised and vulnerable citizens without access to those services. Page 68 | National Planning Framework First Revision
Source Government of Ireland: National Planning Framework: First Revision (April 2025) · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.