Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To be clear, our conversations with the Department have had to do with resources for the planning authorities because resources for the Judiciary are ultimately a matter for the Department of Justice. However, even that is an issue because the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is proposing a set of changes that will also impact on the operation of the courts but that Department is not in any way in a position to make a decision on resources at that level.

I have a very short question on standing. The issue of the representativeness of a group involved in litigation has come up. I invite the witnesses to put their views on the record but, to be very clear, there is nothing in our international or European legal obligations that makes representativeness a criterion for people's right to access justice. I am correct in that. For example, for a residents' group or environmental group to take a case under the Aarhus Convention or EU environmental law, representativeness of a geographical area is not a requirement.