Dr. Fred Logue:

The evidence from the Irish Planning Institute, IPI, was that section 5 was there from the start, from the 1960s, as a public right to get a declaration. It is an important part of enforcement because it is a time-limited procedure to get a declaration about whether a development is a development and if so, whether it needs planning permission and there is an independent referral to the board. It is a very effective way of enforcement and has been used to very good effect in enforcement of peat development. There are some slight issues in the fact that the courts have found that a section 5 declaration that is not judicially reviewed is final. This means that, for example, where a council or the planning authority makes a declaration that does not get referred to the board, that cannot be revisited in a subsequent declaration for the same factual situation.