The newly inserted section 44A of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) provides that the Minister may make an order revoking or modifying a grant of planning permission but only upon the request of the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Minister for Defence and with the approval of the Government. Furthermore, the Minister must be satisfied that the carrying out of the development, to which the grant of permission relates, is likely to be harmful to the security or defence of the State, or the State’s relations with other states, and the revocation or modification concerned is necessary in the public interest.
The potential application of section 44A in any individual set of circumstances would fall to be determined by considering the particular facts involved by reference to the above criteria.