Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

At present, a JR applicant may bring amended grounds beyond those originally filed in his or her application. This is one of the time savings that can accrue from this change. Amended grounds can cause significant delays to the court and the defendant, as they consider the merits of each new amended ground. The Bill reforms this by requiring that an application for a judicial review may only be made on the grounds of the challenge raised by the applicant in the statement of grounds filed with the application. Limited criteria are set out in the Bill by which the court may allow subsequent amendments to the statement of grounds. That, in itself, is a means by which the Bill will allow time to be saved in the process.