Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The fourth set of Government amendments relates to judicial review provisions in the planning Act. New amendments will require the court to consider whether there is an adequate appeal or other available administrative remedy and, if so, it should not grant leave. This is not as absolute as the amendment that was originally proposed but it is compliant with EU law and creates a presumption, which the court is required to implement, that issues arising from determinations of planning authorities ought to be appealed to the board unless there are special circumstances. In effect, an appeal, rather than a judicial review challenge, should be the default position in the first instance.

The final amendment introduced is designed to assist developers in obtaining remittal and to address the judicial reluctance that has manifested itself recently to remit matters to planning authorities following a successful judicial review challenge. At present, some judges refer matters back to the planning authorities to make a new decision, while other judges are reluctant to do so. To address this, it is proposed to provide for an effective presumption that the matter can be remitted to the board at the commencement of the legal proceedings in order that the errors can be corrected quickly, thereby avoiding delays associated with such proceedings.