National statistics

Planning statistics for Ireland

What the statutory planning registers record across all 31 councils — decisions, what is applied for, appeals and activity over time. Figures, not verdicts: each is a count from the register, with its period stated.

Why applications are refused, from the councils’ own decision notices →

Applications: 567,624; every year on the register
Granted: 87%; of 428,832 decided
Lodged, last 12 months: 40,460; rolling, to today
Appeals decided: 23,963; by An Bord Pleanála, all years

Compare areas and periods

Choose an area — Ireland, a province, Dublin or up to 8 councils — and a period. Each application counts once, in the quarter it was lodged, under its outcome to date.

Applications lodged: 213,630; 2021–2025
Granted: 88%; of 155,754 decided
Invalid: 10%; of those lodged in the 5 councils recording them
Median decision time: 7 weeks; lodging to decision

Ireland (all 31 councils) · applications lodged 2021–2025 · outcomes as recorded on the register

Applications over time

Lodged per quarter, 2021–2025, by outcome to date

Granted
Part granted
Refused
Invalid or withdrawn
No decision on the register
Exemption and compliance

Show the numbers

Period	Granted	Part granted	Refused	Invalid or withdrawn	No decision on the register	Exemption and compliance	Total
Q1 2021	7,319	24	851	266	1,543	20	10,023
Q2 2021	9,093	10	1,094	296	1,860	24	12,377
Q3 2021	7,654	23	1,119	272	1,656	14	10,738
Q4 2021	7,578	26	1,156	424	1,777	11	10,972
Q1 2022	6,333	25	967	439	1,480	6	9,250
Q2 2022	7,028	22	1,100	469	1,651	18	10,288
Q3 2022	6,137	19	969	412	1,430	7	8,974
Q4 2022	6,103	22	1,016	305	1,480	105	9,031
Q1 2023	5,560	46	727	392	1,435	543	8,703
Q2 2023	6,657	29	824	411	1,909	755	10,585
Q3 2023	6,277	29	835	355	1,949	648	10,093
Q4 2023	6,455	35	841	437	1,916	727	10,411
Q1 2024	5,587	46	756	479	1,719	725	9,312
Q2 2024	6,601	40	824	495	2,044	1,018	11,022
Q3 2024	6,858	52	841	506	2,260	1,146	11,663
Q4 2024	7,383	37	917	489	2,469	1,095	12,390
Q1 2025	6,144	41	739	521	1,983	1,029	10,457
Q2 2025	7,970	35	830	595	2,494	1,093	13,017
Q3 2025	7,268	43	841	594	2,466	1,204	12,416
Q4 2025	7,016	38	844	575	2,396	1,039	11,908

Each council in the area

Ireland, 2021–2025: each council’s figures, listed alphabetically
Council	Lodged	Decided	Granted	Invalid	Median decision
Carlow	2,455	1,683	91%	—	12 weeks
Cavan	3,505	2,896	94%	—	7 weeks
Clare	6,093	5,131	92%	—	7 weeks
Cork City	3,544	3,071	88%	—	8 weeks
Cork County	22,016	15,280	91%	0%	9 weeks
Donegal	11,737	9,242	93%	—	7 weeks
Dublin City	23,707	11,826	86%	23%	7 weeks
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown	12,051	6,939	86%	7%	7 weeks
Fingal	10,536	6,738	81%	11%	7 weeks
Galway City	1,724	1,612	85%	—	7 weeks
Galway County	9,986	9,008	82%	—	7 weeks
Kerry	7,062	6,140	89%	—	9 weeks
Kildare	8,506	5,995	81%	—	7 weeks
Kilkenny	4,562	3,893	90%	—	9 weeks
Laois	4,424	2,915	94%	—	7 weeks
Leitrim	1,165	1,035	96%	—	7 weeks
Limerick	6,754	5,905	92%	—	9 weeks
Longford	1,531	1,385	91%	—	7 weeks
Louth	5,664	4,257	80%	—	7 weeks
Mayo	6,522	5,407	92%	—	8 weeks
Meath	9,166	7,023	85%	—	7 weeks
Monaghan	3,206	2,532	93%	—	12 weeks
Offaly	3,739	2,449	92%	—	12 weeks
Roscommon	3,519	2,277	87%	—	12 weeks
Sligo	2,488	2,047	94%	—	7 weeks
South Dublin	5,770	4,650	88%	7%	7 weeks
Tipperary	7,765	5,438	96%	—	7 weeks
Waterford	5,508	4,155	87%	—	7 weeks
Westmeath	3,230	2,609	86%	—	9 weeks
Wexford	8,602	7,158	81%	—	7 weeks
Wicklow	7,093	5,058	84%	—	7 weeks
All 31	213,630	155,754	88%	10%	7 weeks

Alphabetical, not a ranking: councils differ in what is applied for. A dash means under 30 decisions, or, for invalid applications, a register that does not record them.

By type of development

Ireland, 2021–2025: applications by type of development
Type	Lodged	Decided	Granted
New dwelling	50,554	39,504	81%
Extension	47,226	37,370	95%
Retention	31,644	24,400	89%
Alterations	18,401	12,210	91%
Change of use	10,713	7,580	87%
Commercial	10,136	7,374	87%
Agricultural	9,979	7,680	92%
Infrastructure	9,227	6,013	90%
Other	8,961	2,196	86%
Housing estate	5,793	3,953	76%
Apartments	3,960	2,566	71%
Industrial	2,441	1,793	92%
Energy	2,032	1,430	90%
Demolition	1,866	1,441	87%

The type is PPI’s reading of each proposal’s description; 100% of the applications here have one.

Only Cork County, Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin record invalid applications on their registers; elsewhere an invalid application never reaches the register, so the invalid share covers those councils only (a dash in the table).
Recent periods hold many applications not yet decided. The grant rate counts decided applications only — granted, part granted or refused — so a withdrawal or an invalid application is never read as a refusal.
Figures from the statutory planning registers, read 7 November 2026.

Decisions

Grant rate

Share of 428,832 decided applications, since 1999

87%granted

Granted373,705 · 87%Part granted, part refused1,685 · <1%Refused53,442 · 12%

Also on the register, outside the rate: Withdrawn 3,134 · Invalid 13,766 · Exempt — no permission needed 3,105 · Not exempt — permission needed 1,102 · Compliance submission 10,158 · No decision recorded 107,527

Historical outcomes from the statutory register. Not a prediction for any individual application.

Show the numbers

Outcome	Applications
Granted	373,705
Refused	53,442
Part granted, part refused	1,685
Withdrawn	3,134
Invalid	13,766
Exempt — no permission needed	3,105
Not exempt — permission needed	1,102
Compliance submission	10,158
No decision recorded	107,527

What’s being applied for

Share of 544,520 applications with a recognised type

New dwelling25%
Extension23%
Retention14%
Alterations8%
Agricultural5%
Commercial5%
Change of use5%
Infrastructure4%

Types are read from each application's description; the most common are shown.

Show the numbers

Type	Applications	Share
New dwelling	134,081	25%
Extension	126,112	23%
Retention	76,824	14%
Alterations	42,988	8%
Agricultural	29,865	5%
Commercial	28,088	5%
Change of use	26,882	5%
Infrastructure	22,871	4%

Grant rate by type of development

How each kind of application has been decided in Ireland, 2016–2075.

Type	Granted	Decided
New dwelling	81%	75,505
Extension	95%	68,997
Retention	90%	45,579
Alterations	92%	22,839
Agricultural	94%	16,276
Change of use	88%	14,665
Commercial	88%	14,327
Infrastructure	91%	11,860
Housing estate	78%	7,776
Apartments	71%	4,496
Other	88%	4,441
Industrial	93%	3,435
Demolition	86%	2,898
Energy	90%	2,376

“Decided” counts applications granted, refused or part-granted — withdrawn and invalid applications are excluded. Types with fewer than 30 decided applications are not listed, because a rate over a handful of applications would not mean anything.

Appeals

Appeals to An Bord Pleanála

25%

of 23,963 decided appeals changed the council’s decision, 1999–2026.

Refusals granted on appeal: 32% of 9,604
Permissions refused on appeal: 21% of 14,359
Decision upheld: 15,130
Upheld, conditions varied: 2,819
Part granted, part refused: 479

6,014 of 23,963 decided appeals reversed the council either way. Withdrawn and invalid appeals are excluded, because nothing was decided. Appeals are self-selected — only decisions someone chose to challenge appear here — so this is a record of appealed cases, not a measure of the council’s decisions overall.

Activity

Applications lodged

Per year, 2016–2025

Show the numbers

Year	Applications
2016	31,237
2017	32,874
2018	37,205
2019	36,923
2020	36,156
2021	44,110
2022	37,543
2023	39,792
2024	44,387
2025	47,798

Grant rate by year

Share of decided applications granted, by year of decision

Show the numbers

Year	Decided	Granted	Grant rate
2016	20,505	18,647	91%
2017	26,269	23,781	91%
2018	29,113	26,115	90%
2019	29,923	26,609	89%
2020	27,565	24,401	89%
2021	35,453	31,276	88%
2022	31,347	27,149	87%
2023	28,254	24,761	88%
2024	28,941	25,493	88%
2025	32,175	28,740	89%

Councils

Each council’s register, listed alphabetically. Councils differ in what is applied for, and only the decisions someone chose to appeal reach An Bord Pleanála, so these figures describe each register — they are not a measure of any council. A dash means too few decisions to state a rate.

Planning register figures for each council, listed alphabetically
Council	Applications	Last 12 months	Granted, last 10 yrs	Appeals decided	Changed on appeal
Carlow	5,037	433	92%	121	26%
Cavan	6,912	776	95%	161	27%
Clare	12,193	1,186	93%	403	24%
Cork City	7,954	2	89%	517	19%
Cork County	141,728	3,302	91%	3,830	29%
Donegal	23,820	2,504	92%	426	41%
Dublin City	38,183	5,353	87%	2,184	19%
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown	42,433	2,351	86%	4,347	26%
Fingal	23,742	2,261	82%	1,599	24%
Galway City	3,857	347	87%	322	23%
Galway County	20,969	1,919	85%	620	30%
Kerry	14,747	1,228	90%	663	28%
Kildare	17,345	1,558	81%	733	20%
Kilkenny	9,806	888	91%	305	22%
Laois	8,823	1,007	95%	178	29%
Leitrim	2,319	246	97%	53	19%
Limerick	14,138	1,415	93%	532	22%
Longford	3,175	300	91%	117	26%
Louth	11,755	996	85%	471	25%
Mayo	12,446	1,286	94%	338	18%
Meath	18,452	1,752	87%	571	21%
Monaghan	6,860	663	94%	123	24%
Offaly	7,219	818	91%	168	25%
Roscommon	6,980	687	88%	164	32%
Sligo	5,119	535	94%	144	20%
South Dublin	32,989	871	87%	2,621	25%
Tipperary	16,251	1,450	97%	376	21%
Waterford	11,070	1,110	88%	387	24%
Westmeath	6,751	695	88%	179	16%
Wexford	19,141	1,183	81%	557	36%
Wicklow	15,410	1,338	85%	753	24%

About the data

“Granted” is the share of decided applications — granted, part-granted or refused — that were granted. Withdrawn, invalid, exemption and compliance records are counted on the register but never treated as refusals. Where An Bord Pleanála reversed a council, the appeal figures say so; the council grant rates above count the council’s own decision.

These are historical counts, not predictions for any application. For a particular site, the free site report sets out the evidence on record; for a council, open its page from the table above.

Source the statutory planning registers of Ireland's 31 local authorities · Licence Irish Public Sector Data, CC BY 4.0Always confirm against the relevant authority’s official register.