Criticism of how long courts spend on council cases in Kildare

The amount of court time allocated for planning matters in Kildare was described as “absolutely scandalous” at a recent council meeting, where concerns were raised about the local authority’s ability to enforce planning laws.

The executive of Kildare County Council issued a detail report, which pointed to rising workloads, staffing pressures and growing demands on the court system.

The council also revealed that 906 planning applications have been received, 68 housing developments are under monitoring and 4,390 building inspections have been carried out so far in 2026.

Cllr Claire O’Rourke brought forward a motion at the most recent full meeting of the council calling on the local authority to report on whether it has enough staff, resources and systems in place to properly implement and enforce the new Planning and Development Act 2024. She asked for information on current workloads, staffing levels, risks, challenges and any extra supports the council may require.

Director of services Alan Dunney issued the council’s response, which ran to an unusual length of five pages. The written response said that while the new planning legislation represents a significant change, preparations for its implementation have been under way for several years. The official response also noted that Kildare is one of the fastest-growing counties in Ireland, creating a heavy workload for planners and enforcement staff.

The council said it has a dedicated planning enforcement section, ongoing staff training for the new legislation, two additional planning enforcement posts approved in the 2026 budget, expanded digital planning systems and participation in national recruitment and planning-capacity initiatives.

The response also highlighted a number of challenges, including significant population growth, difficulties in recruiting qualified planners, the need to operate under both the old and new planning legislation during the transition period, and pressure on the court system when enforcement cases require legal action.

Cllr O’Rourke said she had been told that “the allocation of legal time for the council in county Kildare is one Monday per month” and that bank holiday Mondays reduce that to around six days of court per year, which she described as “absolutely scandalous”.

Director Alan Dunney told the meeting that, with regard to judicial capacity, Chief Executive Sonya Kavanagh has written to the Master of the High Court seeking additional resources for Kildare.

Celbridge councillor O’Rourke told the meeting that she tabled the motion following “the high numbers of representations from constituents about unauthorised developments”.

She said she is trying to identify what “remedies there may be either within or outside the remit of the county council, for the Minister for Justice to review what are the options to increase the legal resources”.

Cllr Chris Pender supported the motion and said “we can’t be passing new legislation nationally and expecting local authorities every single time to absorb the extra workload”. He added that there had been a significant increase in reports of unauthorised developments.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme