Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID)

The Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, provides for a special planning application process for Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID). This procedure allows for an application to be made directly to the Board rather than to the local authority.

The types and sizes of development that fall under SID are set out in the Seventh Schedule of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. They include large projects in the energy, transport, environmental and health infrastructure sectors.

To qualify as a SID, a proposed development must be one of the specific classes prescribed in the Seventh Schedule and must exceed the defined development thresholds for that class.

For example, a healthcare facility with over 100 beds, or a wind farm with more than 25 turbines or a total output of more than 50 megawatts. The Board then decides (following formal consultation) whether the proposed development:

• would be strategically, economically or socially important to the State or the region in which it would be situated; and/or
• would contribute substantially to fulfilling any of the objectives of the National Planning Framework or the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy for the location(s) of the development; and/or
• would have a significant effect on the area of more than one planning authority. If the proposed development, (for example a 100-bed hospital) meets any one of these criteria, then it can be considered as a SID, and an application for planning permission can be made directly to the Board. If not, then the application is made to the local planning authority. A SID application must be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR). A Natura Impact Statement (NIS) may also be required, depending on the circumstances of the case.