“We make no apology for defending the right of access to the Courts to hold public authorities to account. It is a fundamental element of the architecture of the Rule of Law, in our democracy,” Attracta Ui Bhroinn says in her opening statement to Dail Housing Committee in relation to proposed legislation to update planning laws.
She says the bill will result in a “veritable cat’s cradle of obstacles making it more difficult for the public to hold a whole range of public authorities to account before the Courts for the lawfulness of their decisions“
The Irish Environmental Network’s environmental law officer Attracta Uí Bhroin raised major concerns about the draft Planning and Development Bill at Tuesday’s meeting of the Oireachtas housing committee, which, in its present form places new limits on access to taking judicial reviews of planning decisions.
The proposed legislation is a knee-jerk reaction to criticisms claiming judicial reviews of planning decisions is slowing down the building of houses and other critical infrastructure.
In her opening statement to the committee she said “we are concerned at a further fundamental erosion of Local Government democracy and the further centralisation of power without adequate legislative safeguards on assessment, consultation and participation obligations, or on democratic oversight and controls.”
She explained that the Bill if enacted in its current form would lead to a further “erosion of environmental democracy and the rights of the public to information, participation and to hold public authorities to account before the Courts, through rights of access to justice.”
She said the Bill “proposes a veritable cat’s cradle of obstacles making it more difficult for the public to hold a whole range of public authorities to account before the Courts for the lawfulness of their decisions, via Judicial Review.”
She went on to warn that “it is bad enough when the actual materials of buildings and homes are faulty, but when the very concept of the development itself, which is someone’s home or critical infrastructure is unlawful, that is a nightmare, in legal and practical terms.
Further issues arise when homes and infrastructure get built in places where they are unsustainable, due to flawed assessments and decisions.”
Ms Uí Bhroin who is Vice President of the The EEB (European Environmental Bureau) the largest network of environmental citizens’ organisations in Europe told the committee that “we also make no apology for defending the right of access to the Courts to hold public authorities to account. It is a fundamental element of the architecture of the Rule of Law, in our democracy.”
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