Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

The legislation has made a significant difference but it deals with appeals. There is a balance to be struck between the rights of citizens to appeal and engage under the Aarhus Convention and the rights of applicants. The Department no longer sees the appeals system as being the problem. The appeals committee had 1,000 cases before it at one point and we are down to 50 cases waiting to be heard.

Essentially, that problem has been resolved. If there are recommendations as to how we might adjust the legislation, I would be delighted to hear them. There is a delicate balance to be struck. When we were passing that legislation, there were those who said it erred on the wrong side of public consultation and the Aarhus Convention and those who said the opposite. This is a contested area and a contested sector. As a Department, it is our obligation to be on the right side of all of that. The appeals system is not the problem anymore. It can be improved and perfected, but it is no longer the issue. At one stage in 2020, we had 571 applications under appeal. That is all gone now. We still have a steady stream of appeals because people have the right to appeal, but it is much more manageable now. The system is much better than it was.