Ireland's planning system was introduced on the 1st October 1964, when "The Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963" came into effect.

We are unique among European countries in that we have an independent third party planning appeals system which is operated by An Bord Pleanála.

The physical planning system in Ireland is run by 88 local planning authorities:

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is responsible for planning legislation. For more information and to download the relevant planning legislation documents, please visit http://www.environ.ie