ON FRIDAY, 18 February of this year, Dr David Duffy, the director of Property Industry Ireland sent a letter to Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Peter Burke.
“PII recognises the right to appeal planning decisions. However, the impact of judicial reviews on the supply of new homes is a critical issue that must be addressed,” Duffy said in his letter. Minister of State Peter Burke was lobbied by Property Industry Ireland in relation to judicial review. Source: Sasko Lazarov via Rollingnews.ie
Lobbying is described by Sipo on its lobbying website as “an essential part of the democratic process” enabling “citizens and organisations to make their views on public policy and public services known to politicians and public servants”. We also obtained – through Freedom of Information requests – a number of documents, correspondence and minutes of meetings, particularly in relation to engagement on planning laws and Judicial Review.
The Construction Industry Federation – the industry representative group – filed the most returns over the past two years. Focus Ireland – the housing and homelessness charity – was next. But it can also involve engaging with officials at forums, roundtable discussions or just general updates on the sector. Housing provision is one of the principal issues facing the country so national and local government officials regularly seek industry views on the matter.
This is just one of the many examples of the engagement between construction industry representatives and local authorities evident in the lobbying returns.Often, however, industry groups lobby for changes to laws and policies that they believe will benefit their members and say will also lead to lower costs and an increase in housing supply which would be of benefit to the consumer.
Among many of the issues facing the industry, including the disruption from Brexit, Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine – which has reduced available labour and seen the cost of materials rise – CIF, PII and others also have issues with the delays in securing planning permission in Ireland. Former Housing Minister Simon Coveney oversaw the introduction of Strategic Housing Development laws. Source: Leah Farrell via RollingNews.ie
The results of the research outlined the strategies employed by the industry and the intensive industry lobbying of the government to introduce the laws.Speaking to the researchers, one member of Property Industry Ireland stated that Minister Simon Coveney contacted a colleague after hearing them speak about the fast-track planning system. He said:
“It was really just window dressing that people could comment on an SHD because it had all been designed and agreed with An Bord Pleanála at that stage, and there was no mechanism to change it. These figures were included in a report on a review of the functions of ABP undertaken by the Office of the Planning Regulator , published last month. In it, the OPR stated: “It is clear that the number of legal challenges which are successful has increased exponentially in the last three years.”
According to Fred Logue’s latest calculations, JRs that have been decided in relation to SHDs have had a 93% success rate – where ABP lost or conceded. One high profile case involved the heritage and environment charity An Taisce challenging ABP’s decision to grant permission for a multi-million euro proposed Glanbia cheese factory in Kilkenny.
“The first thought that struck me is that this judicial review frenzy is basically a feature of the SHD system, not a general feature of the planning system,” said Fred Logue, a solicitor, who regularly takes JR cases on behalf of clients.‘Worrying trends’ – industry response “Obviously legal challenges have arisen and the need for reform of the legislation and legal process is needed,” he said.“The SHD process did significantly reduce the time taken for planning decisions. At the time the process was introduced there were long delays in getting planning permission,” David Duffy, Director of PII told Noteworthy.
“[Judicial reviews] are used to overturn unlawful decisions. That’s what a judicial review is, that’s what it does, and that’s what people [who take the cases] are doing,” he said, adding that the vast majority of concluded JRs have been successful, with ABP losing or conceding.
noteworthy_ie No problem Helen is on the case..wouldn't want plebs voicing concern about planning discisions..maybe she could incorporate it into hate speech somehow.
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