The grounds for taking court challenges to decisions on big infrastructure projects would be narrowed to those directly affected by a proposed scheme, under plans to be considered by senior Ministers on Monday.
The Cabinet committee on infrastructure is to discuss proposals from a taskforce established by Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers.
With the Coalition under significant pressure to tackle infrastructure backlogs, it will examine a range of measures aimed at introducing a higher threshold for pursuing judicial review cases. This is a category of legal action that challenges administrative decisions, such as planning permission, and often results in long delays for infrastructure projects.
The taskforce is expected to propose measures that would require a court first to consider the likelihood of a judicial review being successful before granting leave to proceed with a challenge.
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Mr Chambers is expected to tell Ministers that a new legal fees structure is also up for consideration, which is hoped would encourage settlements before a case goes to the courts. A cap on the scale of related legal fees that can be claimed from the State will also be discussed.
The Irish Times has previously reported on plans to fast-track critical infrastructure, which may include a significant legislative overhaul granting the State emergency powers to bypass certain planning and consenting processes for significant projects.
The infrastructure group has been working on “trigger points” which would allow for the application of such emergency powers, including, for example, where there is a risk of power cuts.
Government sources said other applications could be for big water or roads projects deemed to be in the national interest.
Powers granting authority to designate specific projects as prioritised in the national interest are also being considered.
In advance of the meeting, Land Development Agency (LDA) chief executive John Coleman criticised the impact of judicial reviews.
Mr Coleman said they are a “one-way bet” for those taking the challenges, with “no jeopardy at all” but that they can “stymie a whole housing market”.
“If I was to highlight the immediate threat that needs to be dealt with, it is the prevalence of legal challenges,” he said. “Judicial reviews against housing on one level, but underneath that infrastructure.”
He gave the example of the Greater Dublin Drainage Project being stuck in judicial review, as well as “a number of infrastructure transmission points like substations”.
Mr Coleman criticised a review before the courts, taken by four councillors and author and former Irish Times journalist Frank McDonald, which challenges revised apartment design standards introduced earlier this year.
Critics of the changes say they will lead to smaller and darker apartments, and argue that claims about bringing down the cost of development are overstated.
The applicants argue that the guidelines were issued without consultation and constitute a gross undermining of the role of local government, as well as being inconsistent with the Republic’s social equity goals.
Mr Coleman said the legal challenge is “terrible for housing delivery in this country” and would have effects in the real world, creating uncertainty as owners of schemes wait to see what is happening.
While the LDA would be proceeding with its schemes despite the challenge, he said it was “really bad news for housing delivery, really bad news for anyone that’s looking and can’t get a home at the moment”.
