Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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5. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will extend the 15 January deadline for the public consultation on the regulation of costs payable in matters prescribed on foot of section 294 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 (scale of fees) (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2530/26]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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This public consultation relates to the secondary legislation necessary to implement the provision for a scale of costs in the context of judicial reviews, the primary legislation for which was passed by the Oireachtas in the Planning and Development Act, 2024. The objective is to bring greater predictability and proportionality to the State's legal costs in environmental judicial reviews.

My Department takes a proactive and transparent approach to meaningful public and stakeholder consultations, ensuring they are widely communicated and easy to access. All consultations are published on gov.ie and are actively promoted across the Department’s social media channels using a standardised and accessible approach.

Normally a public consultation period is four weeks. This consultation opened on 3 December 2025 and is due to close at 5.30pm on Thursday, 15 January 2026. An additional two weeks has been factored into this consultation to accommodate public participation and to allow interested stakeholders to express their views. Over 200 substantive submissions have already been received and I do not propose to extend the period.