Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

Gabhaim buíochas leis na finnéithe as a gcur i láthair inniu agus cuirim fáilte rompu. The purpose of our committee is to try to unpick the delays and costs that are affecting so many infrastructural and housing projects. It seems to be the case that, even before construction ever starts for anything, the journey is so long. There are so many different hoops that have to be jumped through from scoping to planning to tendering. Judicial reviews often become a bête noire in here. People often use it to say it is not their fault, the judicial reviews are going haywire and they cannot do anything about it, etc. I am just trying to find out how long it takes judicial reviews to happen, why there has been such an increase in judicial reviews, and what kind of staffing is in place to make sure that these judicial reviews progress in a timely fashion? This is the space we are in. I think there was a 67% increase in judicial reviews in one year. Ms Denning referred to An Coimisiún Pleanála's backlog. When we questioned its representatives about it, we asked if they were getting the necessary staff to deal with the backlog. Since that backlog has now come to the Courts Service, where is its staffing at in terms of delivering on that backlog?