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Key Contacts
Related areas
This is the first revision of the National Planning Framework as required under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended). There is substantial overlap between the first and the revised NPF, and indeed the overarching National Strategic Outcomes remain the same. But there have been some key changes to the detail of these strategic outcomes that reflect:
Housing
The revised NPF targets the delivery of 50,000 new homes a year, doubling the previous 2018 first NPF goal. While this is a significant increase in ambition, the overarching NPF strategy in relation to housing largely remains the same. What has changed is that where the first NPF set out ideas or goals for new regulation, policy and legislation to support the strategy, the revised NPF fills in some of those blanks with the actions of the Government over the past seven years. In that respect, the revised NPF (and the subsequent guidance the Government intends to provide) provides a more concrete roadmap for how Ireland might achieve this ambitious housing goal.
National Strategic Outcome 1 – Compact Growth provides a clear example of this shift. In the years since the first NPF, the Government has established the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund. Outcome 1 has also been expanded to include the Residential Zoned Land Tax, which comes into effect in 2025 and aims to activate suitably zoned and serviced land for development. Similarly, the first NPF set out the Government’s objective to establish a strategic and centrally managed approach to realising the development potential of state owned/influenced lands – and now, with the Land Development Agency fully operational, the revised NPF provides a specific Objective for the LDA’s role in the future. There are some completely new additions to the overall strategy – for example, an increased focus on how to evaluate land for zoning. Local authorities should not zone land for development if it cannot be serviced within the life of the relevant plan. Given the last zoning update was 2022/2023, there may be a question of whether an interim rezoning is now required. As expected, the revised NPF refers to the Planning and Development Act 2024, and expects that it will provide key legislative tools to achieve Ireland’s housing goals.
Renewable energy
There is a clearer focus on the climate transition, and therefore renewable energy, under the revised NPF. The legal landscape has changed significantly since the first NPF, with the introduction of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act in 2021. As a result, there are references to the 2024 Climate Action Plan throughout and a clearer recognition that climate, and renewable energy, are relevant to all sectors of Irish society. There is also a stronger recognition of the need for a whole-of-system approach to renewable energy in Ireland – with multiple objectives recognising the importance of improving domestic and international grid connectivity, non-grid transmission infrastructure and port infrastructure. However, renewable energy operators may be disappointed to see the revised NPF does not provide any further clarity on how the Government intends to balance competing land demands while protecting cultural landscapes and the conservation and protection of nature.
Perhaps the most significant change for renewable energy under the revised NPF is the addition of regional renewable energy allocations, to be integrated into Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies and the associated Regional Renewable Energy Strategies. Each Region must plan for sufficient wind and solar energy development to achieve both the MW targets set out in the revised NPF and the 2030 national renewable electricity generation targets. For onshore wind, this will most affect the Eastern and Midlands regions, who will need to increase energised capacity significantly to meet their allocation of 1,966 MW (with only 284 MW capacity at present).
In terms of future actions to look out for, the revised NPF suggests the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications will prepare an Offshore Transmission Strategy to ensure enabling infrastructure supports the development of offshore renewable energy, although there is no date for delivery. Otherwise, the revised NPF relies on other recent Government policy – such as Powering Prosperity and the Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy Policy Statement – to support its renewable energy objectives.
For further information in relation to this topic, please contact Alan Roberts, partner, Alison Fanagan, consultant, Jason Milne, partner or any member of ALG's Environmental & Planning team.
Date published: 15 April 2025
