Ms Oonagh Buckley:

There is a legal provision as I recall it around pre-application discussions. It says nothing ties the hands of any decision-making body, whether that is the local authority or the board, following those. Nobody can have a legitimate expectation. Everybody knew the legal position that the board takes decisions on the current development plan, whatever the plan in place on the day of the decision is. That should not raise legal jeopardy. There is a possibility of legal action being taken perhaps if somebody is waiting on a decision from the board and so we could get a mandamus application, absolutely. Nobody can have an expectation of getting permission from An Bord Pleanála. Even under the SHDs, on average one in four of them was refused by the board. So, nobody can have an expectation that they are going to get permission from the board.