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

Among the positive reforms contained in Part 9, which amendments No. 954, 955 and 956 seek to remove, applicants will no longer need to apply to the High Court for leave to take a judicial review case. This change will save time and cut expense while improving access to justice. Applicants will still need to demonstrate that they have sufficient interest and standing to take the case. Timelines previously set out within the draft Bill for the various stages of the process have been removed as these matters will be dealt with by the rules of the High Court. This change from the draft Bill of December 2022 was on foot of advice from the Courts Service and recommendations arising from pre-legislative scrutiny.

Another important change is the inclusion of a provision for unincorporated organisations, such as residents’ associations, to take judicial review, subject to certain criteria, including having sufficient interest, taking a vote of members and providing information to the Court to state who is taking the case. This change was also on foot of recommendations from the Oireachtas committee members. The governance requirements contained can only be seen as a necessary improvement in transparency and there has never been a more important time to bolster that aspect of the planning system.

To that end, further amendments have been tabled, namely, amendments Nos. 969 and 979, with regard to persons taking judicial reviews for the sole purpose of delaying a development or for securing the payment of moneys. Further amendments will be tabled on Report Stage to deal with those making spurious submissions on applications or taking spurious appeals. These will address the matters raised in the media recently that are of concern to all of us here today.

Environmental NGOs will still enjoy special status within this Bill and aligned to Ireland’s commitments under the Aarhus Convention. Chapter 2 contains the provisions pertaining to the new environmental legal cost financial assistance mechanism, which we discussed. This mechanism will facilitate the making of a contribution to the costs of all planning judicial review cases that are deemed to be Aarhus proceedings under the Bill.