The Government has agreed to lift the cap on the size of retail outlets, clearing the way for Swedish furniture store Ikea to come to Ireland.
The new planning rules will only apply to four areas of Dublin, as well as to towns designated as gateway towns under the National Spatial Strategy. It will not apply to food outlets.
The move will allow Ikea to go ahead with its plan to open a store in Ballymun on Dublin's northside, which had been blocked by planning rules that ban shops of more than 6,000 square metres - the average Ikea outlet is over four times that size.
The new rules could also allow other huge retail outlets to open elsewhere.
The Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, said that the planning guidelines in force were preventing the development of certain retail formats in Ireland.
This meant that they were effectively restricting competition and the potential choice available to Irish consumers, Mr Roche said.
Retail grocers' group RGDATA has criticised the move, saying that the changes 'set a bad precedent' and that they appeared to have been made at a whim to suit the needs of international retailers.
