Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 278 refers to having sufficient interest in a matter, whether directly or indirectly materially affected by the matter, and also provides that certain parties are deemed to satisfy the requirement where certain circumstances or criteria apply. That is important for judicial reviews. I am going through the Bill. It is comprehensive.

I am not sure whether this is outlined, but I will scrutinise it further, that is whether objections to planning applications are open to everyone. Unfortunately in some cases, people objecting might be from a different part of the country. Is that addressed? I have to go through it all, but I welcome the provisions on sufficient interest for judicial reviews.

The timelines for JRs seem to be important. The courts are independent. The issue that arose in the Apple case in Galway, while the planning process took time, was the appeals, that is the judicial side of things. Planning permission had been granted, but it took many years for the court cases to be completed and finalised, which led to the development not going ahead. That had an impact on the perception of the county and the attractiveness of the beautiful area of Athenry, which is part of the Athenry-Oranmore economic corridor. It is good to see that other projects have gone ahead since, including the Dexcom facility, which is being built on the old Teagasc grounds on IDA Ireland lands. It is important that there is certainty and clarity in respect of appeals and JRs because we unfortunately have a situation where one or two individuals can hold up major projects in rural and urban Ireland. That is an issue.

On the decisions, I am reminded of a housing project that was refused planning permission by a local authority for 16 reasons, which is quite comprehensive. The decision was appealed and the project was granted permission by An Bord Pleanála.