Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Geoghegan for raising this extremely important matter. He started his contribution by referring to the greater Dublin drainage project, which is an absolutely critical project not just for the people in the constituencies we share but indeed for the whole Dublin area. Deputy Geoghegan's specific concern is what can be done to ensure unmeritorious judicial review applications brought before the courts can be prevented or short-circuited in some way to ensure the common good and public interest in such a project is represented and protected by the State. I agree with the sentiments he is expressing.

What I have indicated to my Department, and the authority I received from Government on 15 July last, was that I was given permission to prepare the general scheme of a civil reform Bill. I am pleased to say that preparatory work is proceeding expeditiously and I hope to be in a position at some stage, probably next month, to publish the heads of the Bill and go to the Government to seek permission to draft, on a priority basis, legislation that would be entitled a civil reform Bill.

As Deputy Geoghegan is aware, President Kelly produced a very fine report back in December 2020. I am not prepared to let that report sit on the shelves. It needs to be given statutory effect. As Deputy Geoghegan will be aware, many aspects of it relate more generally to the area of civil litigation, such as discovery and trying to give greater powers to the precedents. They are issues I hope to see included in the Bill.

Also within the Bill, however, will be a part dealing with judicial review. As has been indicated by the Deputy, one of the biggest challenges facing the State is the delivery of critical infrastructure and affordable housing for our people. The greater Dublin drainage project is an example of that critical infrastructure. Despite the Government's significant efforts and what has to be recognised as an unprecedented allocation of resources to deliver large-scale infrastructure projects that would improve the living standards of people in our community, we find that many of these projects, which are both urgent and necessary, find themselves delayed because of judicial review applications, many of them in circumstances where there is an internal statutory appeal. The effect of it is that very many of the projects are delayed for significant periods because of judicial review applications. As the Deputy will appreciate, and as I appreciate, people are entitled to bring challenges before our courts but what we should seek to do, and what this civil reform legislation will seek to do in respect of judicial review, is try to rebalance the different sides in that argument. We need to ensure there is legislation in place that recognises and places a statutory obligation on a court to take into account the public interest and common good being served by a major infrastructural project.

That is something that needs specific statutory recognition. There should also be some statutory recognition of the fact that a person who is challenging, by way of a judicial review, a project needs to have some direct impact or interest in the project itself. They must be directly affected by it as opposed to just an individual coming along, taking a challenge on the basis that they have a general interest in it. That is why I have decided to ensure that this general scheme is published. Deputy Geoghegan mentioned a couple of other matters in respect of the planning Act and the Aarhus rules on costs and I have had discussions in my Department about that. As I am sure he will appreciate, that is a matter predominantly for the Department of housing but when it comes to judicial review we will introduce new legislation that will complement and sit alongside the provisions within the planning Act.

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