A NEW DIVISION of the High Court, specifically for dealing with planning and environment law, is set to be established by the Government.
Yesterday, Justice Minister Helen McEntee received approval from the Cabinet to establish a dedicated Planning and Environment Division of the High Court, which is set to be run by judges with specialist training.
The court is being set up as part of efforts to speed up processing planning and environment legal matters.
Under the new plan, there will also be some legislative changes to judicial reviews on planning cases.
Announcing the new court, McEntee said that judicial reviews on planning and environment cases were a “notable feature” of Ireland’s planning and statutory consenting process.
“The ability to deal with these cases efficiently and effectively is critical to the State’s delivery of housing and infrastructure, and in protecting the environment,” said McEntee.
“This new court, once in operation, will provide for greater specialism to enable the more efficient management of cases dealing with planning and environmental matters and judicial review in particular.”
McEntee said that the new court would work similarly to the existing Commercial Court, which focuses on business disputes, like contract breaches or corporate mergers.
The Department of Justice is currently working on the plan with the Department of Housing.
The addition of the new court comes as draft legislation to reform the overall planning framework is set to go before the Government before the end of the year, following a review by the Attorney General which began last September.
Establishing the Planning and Environment Law Court will not require primary legislation, but it will be needed for appointing additional judges.
The Department has said that this work will be completed “as soon as possible”.
It comes as the Government announced an update to their Housing for All strategy, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin saying that housing targets for 2022 are set to be exceeded.
The update to the plan is due to changed circumstances compared to when it was initially announced, including the rising cost of construction and the war in Ukraine.
The updated plan will include a review of the current private rental market, which will be commissioned by the Department of Housing early next year.
This is expected to be completed before Budget 2024.
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