At least four thousand new homes and about three times the offices of the IFSC are now due to go ahead in Dublin's northside docklands, following the green light from the Department of Environment which has just granted Ministerial approval for the area's Section 25 planning scheme. The Section 25 approval essentially means that it is a fast track planning power exempting the proposed schemes from objections which may hold up construction work there. However, Minister Noel Dempsey has made some modifications to the planning scheme for the North Lotts area. The same provision was used in the development of the IFSC and the new approval also includes a fresh blueprint for the controversial Spencer Dock area, which includes the proposed National Conference Centre, and 3,000 apartments and offices with a 60:40 per cent residential to commercial ratio.
