Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 July 2023
582. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of judicial reviews with regard to housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36048/23]
View answerThe draft Planning and Development Bill 2022 was published in January and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage has undertaken a significant pre-legislative scrutiny process on the draft Bill. Their report contains more than 150 recommendations, which I am considering carefully. My Department continues to work closely with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to finalise the Bill, taking account of the pre-legislative scrutiny report and submissions from stakeholders more broadly. Once finalised, the Bill will be published and proceed before the Houses of the Oireachtas, subject to its schedule.
The draft Bill aims to ensure that the major debate is focused on the plan-making rather than the application stage, to facilitate greater clarity and long-term visibility in planning outcomes. This will ensure that adequate account is taken of the needs of the future population of new and expanded communities, as well as the needs of existing communities. In doing so the Bill takes appropriate account of the nature of planning decisions, which require careful balancing of public policy, public participation and environmental issues.
The main changes to Judicial Review (JR) contained within the draft Bill include the introduction of timelines for various steps in the process as well as clarifying the role of different parties in accessing justice. In the future, a case can be taken either by an individual or an environmental NGO or association who have sufficient interest in the case and meet other government requirements, as is the case in other European jurisdictions. Groups such as Residents Associations will still be able to take a JR but must also comply with these requirements. If they do not comply, the members of the association can still take it either individually or collectively as the provisions in the draft Bill do not prevent this.
The draft Bill also includes a provision for costs protection for JR, providing that there will not be any order for costs in any such proceedings unless the Court considers that the proceedings are frivolous or vexatious or an abuse of process. A provision will be made in the Bill to bring forward an administrative scheme to deal with costs associated with initiating any proceedings relating to non-compliance with national law relating to the environment. Further details on this scheme will be included in the final Bill.
