FINE GAEL MINISTERS have said they are fully behind new plans to overhaul the judicial review process which seeks to rebalance an individual’s right to object with the ‘common good’.

The Business Post newspaper reports today that one aspect of the new Civil Reform Bill from Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan seeks to ensure judicial reviews can only be used to challenge genuine issues posed by new developments.

One of the most significant reforms the legislation will propose is to rebalance what a court must consider in such applications, including a stronger focus on what is in the public interest.

Judicial reviews are cases taken by citizens or groups to the High Court. In recent years, such cases have been used to challenge decisions made by An Bord Pleanála on large-scale property developments around the country.

For example, over the summer, Taoiseach Micheál Martin urged the public not to object further to the Greater Dublin Drainage Project, stating it is urgently needed. 

While the project was given the green light, it came after seven years of uncertainty caused by legal challenges.

Meanwhile, Uisce Éireann CEO Niall Gleeson recently said “serial objectors” who raise environmental concerns, which are costing the state “billions” when it comes to delaying much-needed waste water treatment plants.

Donohoe ‘couldn’t be more supportive’ of new law

Speaking about the proposed new legislation today in Mullingar where the final day of the Fine Gael think-in is taking place, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said

“I just couldn’t be more supportive of it, and particularly as we get to the point that we have a small number of projects that will make a gigantic difference to the future of Ireland, but are extremely expensive, and we need to have more certainty regarding the timelines for delivering them.”

He said he is conscious that the further delayed these projects are, the more expensive they are to deliver. 

Ministers Jennifer Carroll MacNeill; Martin Heydon; and Paschal Donohoe.

“That is an issue that is as relevant to the common good in Ireland as any important issue that an individual can raise. And I know what Jim [O'Callaghan] will be looking at as how we continue to recognise that individuals do have a right [to object], but we do need to place that against the common good as well,” he added. 

The minister went on to state that investors who want to build infrastructure in Ireland need certainty, particularly around timelines and how things will take. 

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said judicial review processes can delay the delivery of a project by more than two years.

Related Reads

The government's revised housing plan now won't see the light of day until October

Public consultation backs housing plan to exempt garden cabins from planning permission rules

Construction body says lack of investment in infrastructure is holding up housing delivery

“Whether that’s a major piece of health infrastructure, that means patients can’t get access to that, whether it’s housing, those costs have to be financed somehow,” he said.

Delaying key projects costs money, and puts up prices even further, said the health minister.

“All of those costs are then trickling down to the end user, either in terms of not getting access to services or having to pay more for something that they would have gotten cheaper two years ago,” she added.  

Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon also weighed in on the issue, stating he too is supportive of the new legislation. 

“It’s about balance. It’s about the balance of the right of either the state or a company to make an application to develop a key piece of infrastructure that’s really important for the country, the right of people to have their view heard on that, and the right for that to all happen in a timely manner.

“And the current system does mean that the timeliness of that is an impediment for investment, and it is hurting our country,” said Heydon.