Ireland's large-scale construction projects
The consented schemes big enough to carry a main contractor and package procurement, taken from the public planning register of all 31 authorities and refreshed weekly. Plus the strategic-infrastructure and environmentally-assessed projects that bypass council registers entirely.
· checked against the sources below
By sector
Use class is read from each scheme's public description. Schemes still being classified are counted on their own line rather than folded into a sector.
- residential1,817
- mixed use248
- industrial175
- other131
- office79
- civic70
- hospitality63
- retail27
- utilities27
- agricultural21
- Not yet classified3,836
Busiest authorities
- Fingal County Council709
- Dublin City Council689
- Kildare County Council591
- South Dublin County Council552
- Meath County Council521
- Cork County Council388
- Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council345
- Wicklow County Council303
- Wexford County Council296
- Louth County Council274
A sample of what is consented
The largest schemes by unit count and floor area, in the register's own words. No applicant or agent details: this is organisation-level project data.
a Large-Scale Residential Development (LRD) - development of a Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) scheme on land fronting the Groody Road and Dublin Road, Castletroy, in th
Construction of a three storey residential block (BZ16) to be known as Units 1-12, The Heights at Ballymastone Phase 2 Residential Development, Donabate, Co. Dublin.
Construction of a 46 No. 2 & 3 storey residential dwellings together with associate site works.
Construction of a three storey residential block (BZ09) comprising 10 No. Duplexes and 5 No. Apartments.
Construction of a three storey residential block (BZ23) containing 15 Units comprising of 10 No. Duplexes and 5 No. Apartments
Construction of a eight storey residential development at Block H2, Southwest Gate, Naas Road, Dublin 12
Construction of a eight storey residential development at Block K, Southwest Gate, at the junction of Walkinstown Avenue and Naas Road, Dublin 12
Construction of a residential development ranging from four to seven storeys at Block F, Southwest Gate, Naas Road, Dublin 12.
Construction of a eight storey residential development at Block G, Southwest Gate, Naas Road, Dublin 12.
Construction of a six storey residential development at Block H1, Southwestgate, at the junction of Walkinstown Avenue and Naas Road, Dublin 12.
Construction of a residential development ranging from seven to nine storeys over basement at Block I & J, Southwest Gate, Naas Road, Dublin 12
Construction of a seven storey residential development at Block L, Southwest Gate, at the junction of Walkinstown Avenue and Naas Road, Dublin 12
What counts as a large-scale construction project here?
- • Any one of three thresholds qualifies a scheme: 50 or more homes, 5,000 square metres or more of floor space, or an estimated value of 10 million euro and above. The three sectors express scale differently, so a single measure would miss most of them.
- • Consented only. A 200-unit application still under assessment is not yet a project anyone can bid on, so it is excluded until it is granted or commenced.
- • Two whole categories sit outside council registers. Strategic-infrastructure projects are consented directly by An Coimisiún Pleanála, and environmentally-assessed schemes span several consent regimes. Both are tracked separately.
Quick answers
What counts as a large-scale construction project in Ireland?
There is no single legal definition of a large-scale construction project. On this page a consented scheme qualifies if it meets any one of three thresholds: 50 or more homes, 5,000 square metres or more of floor space, or an estimated value of 10 million euro or more. This is separate from the statutory term large-scale residential development, which has its own definition in planning law.
What is a large-scale residential development (LRD) and who decides it?
Large-scale residential development is a planning route for housing schemes above the thresholds in the Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended: 100 or more homes, or 200 or more student bed spaces. The application is made to the local authority after a pre-application consultation, and the decision can be appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála. It replaced the earlier strategic housing development route, which went directly to the Board.
How do I tell when a consented scheme actually starts on site?
Permission alone does not mean work has begun. A commencement notice is lodged on the Building Control Management System not less than 14 days and not more than 28 days before work starts, and it names the builder. A scheme with a commencement notice is on site or about to be, which is why the page counts those separately from schemes that are only granted.
Which large projects never appear in a council planning register?
Strategic infrastructure, which is applied for directly to An Coimisiún Pleanála, and projects consented under other regimes that carry an Environmental Impact Assessment Report. Both are tracked on their own pages, linked below, because a council-only search would miss them.
Where does this data come from, and is it a finding about any company?
It is read from the public planning registers of all 31 local authorities and refreshed weekly, plus the commencement register for schemes that have started. Only consented schemes are included. It is organisation-level project data with no applicant or agent details, and it describes the filings. It is not a finding about any company.
Sources
- Planning and Development Act 2000, revised, including the large-scale residential development provisions (Law Reform Commission)
- Planning and Development Regulations 2001, S.I. 600 of 2001
- Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014, S.I. 9 of 2014 (commencement notices)
- Planning and Development Act 2024 (Irish Statute Book, enacted text)
- An Coimisiún Pleanála
- Building control decisions (BCMS), data.gov.ie
Status, stated precisely: the Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended, including its large-scale residential development provisions, is the in-force basis for the routes described here. The Planning and Development Act 2024 was enacted in 2024 and is being commenced in stages, so only the provisions already commenced apply.