Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Watson Killiney Residents Association in my area had a SLAPP taken against it because it sought a judicial review against a decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant permission for a strategic housing development by Atlas GP Ltd., a developer owned by Pat Crean of Marlet Property Group. This information is in the public domain and has been widely reported. That case has been taken against eight members of the residents association in a precise attempt to intimidate them against their legal right to take a judicial review against a strategic housing development on the grounds that it breached a county development plan, did not have a proper environmental impact assessment, EIA, and screening and so on. These eight individuals include a woman who is 92 years of age and they had agreed to an initial development of 108 apartments. However, they took umbrage when a strategic housing development then jacked that up to 255 apartments, which is a legitimate concern.

That is what these SLAPPs are about. They are widespread across the world and we see them in Ireland where big corporations and wealthy individuals use the money and resources they have at their disposal to try to intimidate communities, environmentalists, human rights activists and journalists from asking questions or challenging their interests. They have to be stopped so we support this directive but, as has been said, it only concerns cross-border issues so it does not help the residents in that situation or in some of the other examples that Deputy Ó Broin gave earlier. Therefore, we need domestic legislation, particularly when we have a Government that often gives out about communities, environmentalists or residents challenging planning decisions. We need domestic legislation to secure the rights of public participation for our citizens.

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