Legislative change in Ireland : a marxist political economy critique of planning law

In the planning literature relatively little attention has been given to investigating the nature of legislative change in the planning domain. Utilising a political economy approach, this paper analyses recent planning legislative change in the Republic
of Ireland. The paper argues that changes in planning legislation can be interpreted within a broader agenda of entrepreneurial planning within the Irish State. In critiquing recent change, the paper highlights three key issues: (1) the state, through legislation, facilities development capital over the interests of the general population; (2) entrepreneurial planning approaches can be traced to formal legislative change; (3) recent legislative
change has been designed specifically to reduce democracy in the planning process. The
findings support the assertion that planning legislation facilities predominantly the elite interest groups in society over those of the 'common good'.