How a Planning Application Works, Step by Step.

From the first site notice to a final grant, the Irish planning process in plain English, with the timelines that actually matter.

⚖️

General guidance. This explains the standard process for a planning application to a local authority. Timelines can pause or extend (for example when the council seeks further information), and some developments follow different routes. It is general information, not formal advice on any specific case. Talk to us about your scheme.

Most people meet the planning system only a handful of times. Knowing the shape of it, and the deadlines, removes most of the stress.

Here is the journey a typical application takes, from preparing to lodge, through the council's decision, to the appeal stage at An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Before you apply

Pre-Planning & Preparation

Optional but valuable: a pre-planning discussion with the local authority helps flag issues early. Your drawings, reports and planning case are prepared so the application is complete and robust from day one.

Before / on the day you apply

Public Notices

You must tell the public before applying:

› A notice in an approved local newspaper.
› A site notice erected at the property, clearly visible and legible, kept up for at least 5 weeks (the 9 days from 24 Dec–1 Jan don't count).
› The council must receive your application within 2 weeks of the newspaper notice.

Day 0

Application Lodged

The application, drawings, site location map and notices go to the local authority, online through the national planning portal, or by post/email. The clock starts once a valid application is received.

Weeks 0–5

Public Participation

Anyone can make a submission or observation on the application within 5 weeks of it being received, for a €20 fee. Only those who make a submission (and the applicant) can later appeal. We prepare considered submissions where a scheme warrants it.

By week 8 (typically)

The Council's Decision

The authority normally decides within 8 weeks of a valid application. It may first issue a Request for Further Information (RFI), this pauses the clock until you respond, and significant new information can trigger fresh public notices.

› Grant, permission, usually with conditions.
› Refuse, with stated reasons you can address or appeal.

4 weeks from the decision

The Appeal Window

The council's decision is not final for 4 weeks. In that window, the applicant or any party who made a submission can appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála. If no appeal is lodged, the council issues the final grant.

Aim: 18 weeks

An Coimisiún Pleanála

If appealed, the national planning commission reviews the case afresh. It aims to decide within 18 weeks, though complex cases take longer, and it writes to keep parties updated. Its decision replaces the council's.

After the grant

Grant, Conditions & What's Next

A permission normally lasts 5 years. Conditions may need to be discharged before you start. In limited circumstances a decision can be challenged by judicial review in the High Court, on a point of law rather than the planning merits.

Where we fit

Where We Can Help

◴

Application Management

Strategy, team coordination and a robust application lodged right first time. More →

◰

Submissions & Appeals

A principled case, for or against, argued on planning merit. More →

◷

Site Appraisal

Before you commit, what a site can realistically deliver. More →

Sources: Citizens Information, appealing a decision · An Coimisiún Pleanála · OPR, Making a Planning Application (PDF)