Strategic Infrastructure Development(SID)
The route for nationally significant projects - data centres, windfarms, major grid, ports and water - consented directly by An Coimisiún Pleanála, bypassing the local authority.
Under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006, certain large or strategically important developments are applied for directly to An Coimisiún Pleanála. The applicant first seeks a pre-application opinion on whether the project qualifies as SID. Because these applications skip the local-authority register, they never appear in council weekly lists.
These are the biggest builds in the State. For contractors and suppliers they are mega-projects - and they are invisible if you only watch council planning registers.
PlanningLeads tracks Ireland's SID pipeline in the Infrastructure directory, geocoded and sized by megawatt capacity - projects you won't find by scanning local registers.
As analysed in the Briefs
- Intel's €5bn Leixlip investment: what the planning record actually showsThe €5bn programme was announced on 13 July. The paper trail at Kildare County Council started three and a half months earlier - and the single application on file tells you exactly what kind of investment this is.Read the brief
- The children's hospital, as told by its planning fileIreland's most expensive building has generated a decade of headlines about money. Its planning file tells a quieter, stranger story: refused once for the skyline, granted in 2016 with 17 conditions - then altered eight times without a single change ever being ruled material.Read the brief
Common questions
Classes set out in the 2006 Act - including major energy and grid infrastructure, data centres, windfarms, ports and large water/waste schemes.
An Coimisiún Pleanála decides it directly, rather than the local authority.
Because they are made straight to An Coimisiún Pleanála, bypassing the local-authority planning register.
Built for utilities & network planning: Forecast connection demand from the construction that's actually about to happen.
This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. Planning rules carry conditions and exceptions - always verify a specific case against the official source or a planning professional before acting.