Dr Caroline Brown: Springing into action

Dr Caroline Brown is the Director for Scotland, Ireland and English Regions

Spring is springing into action, the days are lengthening and the new Irish government is getting to work. One of the jobs on the To-Do List is the implementation of The Planning & Development Act finalised in November 2024. We’ve discussed the Act before, but this time I want to focus on the Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources, published in October.

While the Minister may have changed, the Irish Government’s intent has not, and this action plan focusses on the pipeline of planners in Ireland, with work streams on student numbers, international recruitment and the future shape and skill requirements of the profession. We’re delighted to be contributing to this work, sitting on several of the working groups and feeding in the evidence and experience we have of student recruitment, career support and growing the profession through targeted interventions. We have lots to offer to the Irish minister and his colleagues here, given our experience of Graduate Apprenticeships in England, Future Planner Bursaries in Scotland and our understanding of the international context for skills and training. Thanks to Institute volunteers and colleagues who are helping with these working groups.

Ireland's planning infrastructure is quite different to that in the UK. There is both central and local government of course, but Ireland also has the Office of the Planning Regulator, the Appeals Board (An Bord Pleanála) and the Land Development Agency. All of these organisations are integral to the operation of the Irish planning system and employ significant numbers of planners. Add to that a growing renewables sector and a focus on housing delivery, Ireland has growing demand for planners (a familiar tale) but hasn't yet intervened with the pipeline of new planners going into the Irish planning profession.

This is going to change very soon. One of the first steps mentioned in the ministerial action plan relates to the critical skills list – and this change was confirmed on 10 March. Town planners will be able to apply for a Critical Skills Employment Permit and to move to Ireland. The Ministerial Action Plan working groups are also exploring the recruitment of Irish planners working outside Ireland, encouraging them to return home.

Growing the pipeline of planners is a pressing problem. A lot of countries are struggling with this. Encouraging graduates to take up planning at postgraduate level is really important but the injection of new talent into the system does not address employers who require experience as well as skills. Recruiting planners internationally can help do this if the salary package and compensation is at the right level. And, what a fantastic way to develop your career, gain experience and extend your skill sets if you are willing and able to relocate internationally. Australia has also recently added urban and regional planning to its critical skills list suggesting they are also on the hunt internationally for planners with skills and experience.

All of this underlines the importance of broadening our profession, and growing the overall numbers of planners not just domestically but internationally. And, we need skills and experience as well as people. Intakes of young graduates fresh from their the first degrees is one thing, but we’ll need to bring in more experienced practitioners too, perhaps in mid-career and with useful skills in design or community engagement or technical areas like ecology, carbon accounting or energy.

Ireland is setting out its stall with an ambitious action plan to tackle all of this – to increase numbers of students and attract planning talent (back) to Ireland. This could be good news for individual RTPI members who will now have more options and more choices in their careers. Of course, we’ll be there to support you wherever you live and work.