Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I saw some media reports on the report in question. I have not had a chance to read it, and it would not be fair to comment on it until I have had a chance to do so. When I said in 2018 that Ireland was a climate laggard and our ambition was to be a climate leader, I meant that. At the time, an NGO that scores countries on where they stand in terms of climate action and environmental commitment placed us in the lowest tier of countries. We have now moved up slightly. We are in the second-lowest tier. We are certainly not a leader, but we are not in the laggard group either any more, and that is because of the work that has been done since 2019, ably led by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, in this coalition. We have a long way to go, whether it is in terms of climate action, water quality or biodiversity. We understand that as a Government and we are working very hard on it.

On planning, what the Government intends to do is what is set out in the programme for Government, which was supported by all three parties in government and signed up to not just by Deputies but also by ordinary members of all three parties. That is to make sure that we have a planning process that makes decisions quickly, appropriately, and fairly. We have a system in Ireland where, generally speaking, the planning application goes through a council, a decision is then made and people have the right of appeal and they can appeal to An Bord Pleanála. That is the process. It is not expensive for people to make an objection to the council or make an observation to An Bord Pleanála. Judicial reviews are only supposed to happen on a point of law. That is the whole point of a judicial review. It is not supposed to assess whether it is right or wrong to grant planning permission. That is for An Bord Pleanála to decide. Its planners are the experts. The point of a judicial review is not to rehash the planning arguments or the rights or wrongs of a particular development, it is to double check that An Bord Pleanála or the council followed the correct procedures. That is what a judicial review is supposed to be about. Some people are trying to turn judicial reviews into something else. That is manifestly wrong in my view.

If we look at the number of planning cases that go to judicial review in Ireland compared with other countries, we can see that there is a higher percentage here. It is easier to get something judicially reviewed in Ireland than in other countries. That is a problem. There may be different reasons for that. It may be due to deficiencies in our planning laws. If that is the case, we need to change them. It may be because of mistakes being made by councils and An Bord Pleanála, in which case we need to make sure they make fewer mistakes. It may be the case that they do not have enough resources or expertise. We may need to help them with that as well, but we also need to bear in mind that under our process, when a judicial review happens, a judge does not necessarily have to hear both sides of the argument before allowing a judicial review to take place. Sometimes a judge can allow a judicial review without actually hearing what the consequences could be, and there can be consequences.

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