Further information requests on a planning application — 21% of Dublin files, six months to reply

The seven Greater Dublin Area councils we index received 10,528 applications in the 12 months to 12 September 2026 that are now at least eight weeks old. 2,193 of them drew a request for further information: 21%. The rate is not the same everywhere. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown asked on 11% of 1,737 files; Fingal on 18% of 1,493. "Further information", FI, or in some councils "additional information", is the letter a council sends when it cannot decide within eight weeks on what it has. It is not a refusal and not a grant. It stops the statutory clock, gives you six months, and can open a second window for the neighbours.

Where it comes from

Article 33 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 lets a council require further information it considers necessary to decide the application. It must do so within the eight weeks under s.34(8) of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The case planner drafts it from the planner's report, the internal referrals (roads, drainage, parks, conservation) and any observations received. The request goes on the file and appears on the council's online register, as does your reply.

A request is made once, in one letter. The council cannot come back with a second FI request on the same application, which is why the letters are long and numbered. Article 34 allows a narrower "clarification of further information" if the reply leaves a point unclear. That too is a single opportunity.

What is usually asked for

The items recur. On a house extension in Dublin the register shows requests for a daylight and sunlight assessment where a neighbour's window is affected. Revised drawings to reduce height, pull a wall back from a boundary or remove a first-floor window. A drainage layout or a Uisce Éireann pre-connection enquiry. A tree survey where a mature tree is on or near the site. A conservation report for a protected structure or an Architectural Conservation Area. A corrected site notice where the original was deficient but not fatally so.

For larger schemes the list runs to traffic, ecology, flood risk, construction management and open space. The scope of the request tells you what the planner is minded to do. A request for revised drawings usually precedes a grant with conditions. A request to make the case on principle often precedes a refusal.

Your clock: six months

Under article 33, if you do not reply within six months of the request the application is deemed withdrawn. The council's four-week clock starts only when it receives your reply. Applicants who need a specialist report, an ecologist for a bat survey or a daylight consultant, commonly take two to four months. The register's long tail of decision times is made of exactly these cases: the 90th-percentile application across the seven councils took 161 days against a median of 53.

There is no fee for replying. The reply must answer every item. A partial reply invites a clarification under article 34 and another loop.

"Significant" further information and the neighbour's second window

Article 35 is the part neighbours need. Suppose the council considers that your reply contains significant additional data: a materially revised design, or a new report that changes the assessment. It must then require you to publish a new newspaper notice and erect a new site notice, both stating that significant further information has been received. Anyone may then make a submission within two weeks of the new notices. People who observed on the original application are written to and may comment on the new material without paying €20 again.

The council's four-week decision period then runs from the end of the two-week window. This is the one point in the process where a neighbour who missed the original five weeks gets back in.

Whether FI is significant is the council's judgement. If you observed and you get a letter about significant further information, read the new drawings. What is being revised is usually what your observation was about.

How common it is

The spread between Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal is the thing we keep coming back to. One council asks on roughly one file in nine, the other on one in five. It is not that Fingal uses FI instead of invalidation: Fingal also declared more files invalid in the same year, 19% against 13%. The difference is the sites. Rural north County Dublin brings one-off houses where wastewater treatment, sightlines and rural housing need draw requests that a Killiney extension never will.

Our reading: the FI rate is the number to take into a pre-planning meeting. Ask the area planner what they asked for on the last three similar sites nearby. The register shows the letters. Put those reports in the application and you have removed the loop that turns eight weeks into six months.

Check the files near you

Every application in the Explorer shows whether FI was requested and when the reply came in; type an address into Find to start from your own street. The Fingal place page and the Swords page carry the live FI share for the council and the electoral area, and open windows are on the deadlines page.

Figures from the register on 12 September 2026 (live callouts refresh hourly); law checked 12 September 2026. Check with the council or a planning consultant before relying on this.

Frequently asked questions

Does a further information request mean my application will be refused?

No. It means the council could not decide on the file as lodged. Many applications that answer the request fully are granted, usually with conditions.

How long do I have to respond to a further information request?

Six months from the date of the request (article 33). If you do not reply in time the application is deemed withdrawn and you must apply again with new notices and a new fee.

Can I object after further information is submitted?

If the council decides the further information is significant it requires new notices, and anyone may make a submission within two weeks of them. If you observed on the original application you will be written to and can respond without a further fee.

Can the council ask for further information twice?

Only one request under article 33 is allowed. A clarification of the reply under article 34 is possible once, and it must stay within the original request.

Does the eight-week clock restart after further information?

Not fully. The council has four weeks from receiving a complete reply, or from the end of the two-week window where new notices were required.