Victor Boyhan: Government reopens apartment design consultation
Victor Boyhan addressed the House to welcome the Government's announcement that the draft National Planning Statement on Design Standards for Apartments will re-open to public consultation. He said the move responds to legal uncertainty over the current guidelines, which were referred by Justice Humphreys to the European Courts, and noted the consultation closes at 5.30pm on 7 July 2026.
Today's announcement and consultation
Victor Boyhan welcomed the publication of a new draft set of guidelines and the Government's decision to restart public consultation on the National Planning Statement on Design Standards for Apartments. He described the consultation and the accompanying SCA environmental report as a necessary step to restore certainty for planners, developers and local authorities.
Legal uncertainty over existing guidelines
Boyhan reminded the House that the current guidelines were the subject of High Court proceedings and were referred by Justice Humphreys to the European Courts. He warned that the situation has left the guidelines in legal limbo even as planning decisions and appeals are being made.
Confusion in planning practice
He highlighted correspondence showing that An Bord Pleanala and the Planning Commission have been applying the 2025 Design Standard Guidelines for Planning Appeals since July 2025, contributing to a confused state for planners, councillors and developers. Boyhan said the Government’s consultation helps address that confusion while legal processes continue.
Next steps and practical tone
Boyhan thanked the Leader and the Government for what he called a pragmatic decision to proceed in the interest of certainty. He confirmed the consultation period is open and will conclude at 5.30pm on 7 July 2026, and indicated the matter will be taken up later in the week in the parliamentary programme.
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Thank you Comhairleach. Leader, I want to welcome today the Government's announcement that the draft National Planning Statement on Design Standards for Apartments will now open to the public again, a new draft set of guidelines. Now I caution this many times, you will be aware or should be aware Members of this House that the current guidelines were the subject of a High Court action which is not a point for me to go into, other than to say they were referred by Justice Humphreys and are now before the European Courts. Many developers, many planners have raised concerns about this, indeed I have raised it myself and submitted a commencement matter for later this week. I also wrote to on board Planola the other day on the 5th of June and I received correspondence today from them saying that on Commission Planola have been applying the Design Standard Guidelines for Apartments for Planning Authorities 2025 to the Planning Appeals since July 2025. So we have somewhat of a confused state in relation to these guidelines, we know that a number of Councillors from other parties and none initiated these legal proceedings, we know they were heard in the High Court, we know the decision under Justice Humphreys was to refer them to the European Courts, so really we're now applying guidelines that were not, they're in legal limbo but anyway the stage have clearly recognised there is a concern, there is an issue about the SCA and they have today announced a new public consultation and that I welcome because I think what it does is it gives a sense of certainty. So parallel to the disputed guidelines that are in operation, we will have guidelines and I'll finish on this later, the submissions and the observations regarding the draft national planning statement will now be a planning statement and an SCA environmental report have been published for consultation and the Government are happy to announce today that the consultation process starts and will be completed at 5.30pm on the 7th of July 2026. I want to thank the Leader, I want to thank the Government for bringing a bit of common sense to this matter. We won't be able to discuss it tomorrow because it doesn't come within the broader context of planning but it will come up later on in the week hopefully, but I think it's a good decision and I want to be practical and I want to acknowledge that all late in the day the Government have taken the pragmatic decision regardless of the outcome of the courts to proceed in the interest of certainty that we would have a planning statement that would cover this issue. Thank you Leader.
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