Ireland: Environment

Ireland's Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2026 introduces significant reforms to judicial review procedures and planning law, while new EU packaging regulations and climate action consultations signal major environmental policy shifts. Key court decisions address wind turbine noise nuisance and water quality obligations under EU directives.

Ireland's Minister for Agriculture has published the draft General Scheme of the Deforestation and Forest Degradation Bill 2026, establishing the national enforcement framework for the EU Deforestation Regulation.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that appropriate assessments of plans or projects affecting special protection areas cannot be validly conducted without pre-established site-specific conservation objectives. This landmark judgment addresses whether conservation objectives are a prerequisite for environmental impact assessments under the Habitats Directive, with significant implications for development consent procedures across the EU.