Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
388. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline the maximum number of housing units that can be built in Dublin City centre based on current land use capacity calculations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5321/26]
View answerThe Revised National Planning Framework (NPF) was finalised and approved by Government and the Oireachtas in April 2025. The Revised NPF strategy sets out the need to plan for a projected population of at least 6.1m people in Ireland by 2040. Taking into account unmet demand, the strategy sets out a need to plan for the delivery of approximately 50,000 additional housing units per annum nationally, to 2040.
To ensure that local authority development plans reflect the requirements of the NPF in respect of housing as soon as possible, I issued the NPF Implementation: Housing Growth Requirements Guidelines under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 in July 2025. These Guidelines set out the housing demand scenario to 2040 for each local authority, by translating the NPF housing requirements into average annual figures and set out the requirement for planning authorities to commence the process of varying their development plan to meet the new housing growth requirements.
Further to the issuing of the Guidelines in July 2025, planning authorities, including Dublin City Council, were requested to assess their current development plans and undertake a review of the adequacy of existing zoned lands to cater for the new Housing Growth Requirement figures and the potential for ‘additional provision’.
This review and analysis informed the preparation of a Chief Executive’s report by Dublin City Council, submitted to elected members on 16 October 2025, which set out the position in respect of the local authority, and the Chief Executive’s recommendations to the members as to what variations to the Plan may be required in order to meet the requirements of the Guidelines. A programme of bringing forward strategic sites for new housing development has commenced with an initial variation to the Dublin City Development Plan 2022 to address the Guidelines, as recently adopted by Dublin City Council.
The specific data sought relating to site-level land use capacity and housing units are maintained and updated by the relevant planning authority as part of the development plan making process and are not maintained by my Department. The relevant data may be viewed on the website of the local authority.
Details of the residential zonings within the development plans and local area plans of the 31 local authorities are available on the websites of the local authorities, with zoning data also available to view on the mapping platform www.myplan.ie.
