Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 34:

In page 22, line 36, to delete “section 13,” and substitute “section 18*, and”.

Amendments Nos. 34 to 38, inclusive, relate to the effect of an appeal lodged by the chief deciding officer in the High Court to section 24 of the Bill which relates to appeals. Amendment No. 34 also deals with a cross-referencing amendment arising from the changes to section numbers as a consequence of the insertion of new sections. I flagged on Committee Stage that I might bring a technical amendment to the Bill in this regard.

The Bill provides that applicants have recourse to an independent appeals process by virtue of sections 23 and 24. Additionally, section 25 sets out that a further appeal on a point of law can also be made to the High Court. This option is also available to the chief deciding officer as it relates to the determination of an appeals officer. In the published version of the Bill, section 24(8) must, where applicable, include an offer, even if the chief deciding officer lodges a High Court appeal following the determination of an appeals officer. However, in such a case, an applicant could not accept this offer. Therefore, this amendment seeks to clarify that in the circumstances where the chief deciding officer lodges a High Court appeal, the determination under section 24 and any offer under section 24(8) shall cease to have effect pending the outcome of the decision of the High Court on those proceedings. This is necessary in order to ensure clarity for all concerned, particularly the applicant.

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