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IRELAND FACES SIGNIFICANT, urgent and complex climate and environmental problems and the law and access to it are a necessary part of the solution.
We are in a climate and biodiversity emergency. Never has it been more important to ensure that government, the construction industry, corporate bodies and others are held to account in relation to breaches of environmental and climate obligations.
This might include challenging a development, through the planning system, because it is likely to generate significant emissions or adversely affect the environment through pollution or habitat destruction.
Or because it is in contravention of the local development plan, which is essentially an environmental contract between the planning authority and the wider community, regulating private development in a manner consistent with the objectives stated in the plan.
Often, because of where they live, low-income, vulnerable and marginalised people, are particularly exposed to poor planning decisions, including under-provision of public transport or active travel networks, poor air quality, lack of access to green space, flood risk and proximity to industrial estates or dumps.
Their opportunities to challenge planning decisions are already limited. In a recent study by Community Law & Mediation and Dublin City University, representatives of vulnerable and marginalised groups – for example Travellers, migrants, older people – reported feeling largely excluded from environmental and planning decision making.
In the midst of a climate crisis, members of the public and NGOs should be empowered to fight for clean, healthy and liveable communities. Access to justice should be strengthened and promoted.
Troubling narrative driven by construction lobby
The Attorney General is currently leading a review and overhaul of the planning legislation and, in parallel with this review, work is underway to establish a new division of the High Court to deal with planning and environmental issues, plans for which were signed off by the Cabinet last week.
We do not yet know what changes will be proposed. Hopefully, many of the reforms will help simplify and streamline the complex planning system.
However, the entire process has been overshadowed by a troubling narrative driven by members of Government and the construction lobby.
One that blames a growing ‘industry’ of judicial reviews for the delays in the building of much needed housing. A narrative that pits environmental protection, process, proper oversight and accountability against progress on housing and other infrastructure.
Last month, in an address to the annual conference of the Construction Industry Federation, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD, described the planning system as:
One of the main delays in housing project. The system is far too complex and unwieldly and far too many projects end up in a Judicial Review.
On the same day, while visiting Limerick, the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien TD was reported as saying:
We have a housing crisis that is resolvable and solvable, we need people to stop objecting, frankly.
Given the disproportionate focus on judicial review by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the construction lobby, we expect that restrictions on access to the law and litigation will be prioritised in the new planning and development legislation.
Such a move would seriously undermine the environmental rights that members of the public and NGOs are entitled to under the Aarhus Convention – ratified by Ireland in 2012, including the right to challenge, through judicial review if necessary, decisions that affect the environment.
This right was reinforced in a Supreme Court ruling just earlier this week, in which Mr Justice Brian Murray cited the Aarhus Convention when ruling that anyone who challenges a planning permission on environmental grounds is entitled to a protective costs order for all of their grounds of challenge.
This means save for abuse of process, they will not have to pay for the costs of proceedings if they fail in their claim.
Changes to law at the 11th hour
There is reason to be concerned – the recently shelved Housing and Planning and Development Bill, introduced by the Government in 2019, sought to reduce costs protections and increase restrictions around who has standing to take legal cases.
This would have made it very difficult for members of the public to bring judicial review proceedings in relation to planning decisions that affect the environment. It also proposed imposing additional requirements on NGOs in terms of member numbers and length of time in existence.
In July of this year, during a debate on the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, changes to the judicial review process were put forward at the 11th hour including a proposal, ultimately withdrawn after backlash, that would have allowed An Bord Pleanála to frustrate judicial review proceedings against aspects of its decisions by simply changing those aspects mid-proceedings.
Justified increase in judicial reviews
A judicial review application will only be successful if there has been a breach of law or process.
Yes, there has been in increase in the number of judicial reviews related to planning – 95 in 2021, compared to 17 in 2012 – but a significant proportion of these related to the widely criticised Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme, the objective of which was to fast-track housing developments by bypassing local authorities, so that the only mechanism to appeal a decision was via a judicial review.
It is also important to note that the number of judicial reviews related to planning in 2021 represented just 3% of the total number of planning decisions by An Bord Pleanála that year (2,775).
Between 2019 and the end of June 2022, three out of four judicial review cases were lost or conceded by An Bord Pleanála.
In the case of judicial reviews relating to SHDs, the proposed developments were found to have ignored key environmental impacts on the locality or they proposed a material contravention of the local development plan without following process.
The high success rate of such challenges illustrates serious deficiencies in process and decision making, issues for which An Bord Pleanála has come under scrutiny in recent months.
In the meantime, many of the SHDs with an unchallenged planning permission have not gone ahead, suggesting the reason for delay lies elsewhere.
Improved decision-making needed
In the same speech to the Construction Industry Federation, Minister McGrath highlighted the need for “a planning system that we have full confidence in, while at the same time enabling the delivery of key projects in a timely manner”.
The answer to this is to improve decision-making, not to restrict oversight and accountability.
In the months ahead we have a number of opportunities to strengthen environmental democracy, oversight and accountability.
First, the emphasis of the overhauled planning system should be on improving decision making and oversight and promoting real public participation in planning and local development, without restricting access to the law and litigation.
Second, Ireland’s Civil Legal Aid Scheme, which is under review for the first time in almost 50 years, should factor in our climate obligations and provide for legal aid in environmental matters for both individuals and NGOs.
To ensure that the law is enforced, we need to ensure that people and groups know about the law, how it applies to their situation and have access to the courts and legal assistance, if that is necessary.
Finally, the new planning and environmental court must embrace the spirit and objectives of the Aarhus Convention, and provide for broad access to justice, including broad rules of standing and a limitation on costs.
Access to justice should be strengthened and promoted not restricted and threatened.
Rose Wall is an environmental justice solicitor and CEO of Community Law & Mediation (CLM), a community law centre and charity. In 2021, CLM established the Centre for Environmental Justice which works to ensure climate change and other environmental harms do not disproportionately affect those who have contributed least to the problem.
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FULL SERIES IS OUT NOW
An in-depth investigation – published today – finds that the construction industry is lobbying to change the law and reduce planning challenges. An explainer - in July - reported that ‘deeply controversial’ last-minute planning law changes could lead to ‘years of litigation’.
This series was proposed and funded by readers of Noteworthy, the crowdfunded investigative journalism platform from The Journal. We also have a number of other projects focused on politics which you can view here.
You can support our work by submitting an idea, helping to fund a project or setting up a monthly contribution to our investigative fund HERE>>
jail time should be immposed on people who treat living animals this way. normally they are fined and banned from having animals which is like a slap on the wrist.
Absolutely Jail Time.
I vote for kick the head off them time too.
Removal of state welfare and benefits would be no harm either
Our justice system doesn’t only let us down.
Ask ur TD for Regulation and Enforcement. Election coming…. (makes my blood boil this)
I rescued a kitty dumped in a bog (longford)-completly emaciated. Tried to save her but had to take her to the vet and put to sleep as he did tests and she had an incurable virus having been exposed to the elements dumped in a bog. Can the Govt please put in place a US Style ANIMAL POLICE now!! Or we’ll be reading about this again..and again.
Wasn’t me boss !!
Boss?…….pikeman, it was more likely some tracksuit wearing dossing scrote from Ballyfermot.
Decent folk from Ballyfermot Al Ca !! ok Boss
Because no Wexford PikeyMen have ever mistreated an animal as such!
Disgraceful. How can any human do this to an animal
It’s their “culture”. Along with general lawlessness, intimidation and entitlements, to name a few.
so your point is Ned Shaw, is you believe them to be travellers
If you know of the area Eddie, you’d have no doubt.
Greyhounds have their ears tattooed and are regularly found with there ears hacked off and two horse were found last week with there legs bound by ratchet straps they had been disembowelled and had had their necks skinned in an attempt to remove the now legally required microchips!! And while travellers aren’t responsible for all animal abuse in ireland you just have to look at all the pieballed ponies and lurcher type dogs found in disgraceful conditions in every rescuce,pound and shelter up snd down the country to see that yet again the traveller community is responsible for more than their fair share and again they are not being held accountable nor are they making any attempt to change their behaviour!!
The missus and I rescued a lurcher saluki last year. The rescue centre told us the dog had broken its leg and was left on the haulting site to die as she couldnt move. No food or water anywhere to be seen. The rescue centre took the dog and paid to repair the broken bone. The work these centres do is amazing across the country. The dog is now happy and healthy and enjoys watching tv with me every evening.
Ah I’ve a rescue sulaki x lurcher too!! Beautiful, sofa hogging,daft dogs! Glad yours is doing well :0)
Absolute disgusting Fû(ktards the lowest of low Clunt ever.
It’s like bandit country in parts of West Dublin these days. You’ll see young lads flying up and down footpaths on scramblers.. You’ll also see young lads on horses and pony’s on the roads, on green spaces and around the canal and not a thing is being done about it.. It goes to show what cutbacks in policing have done to the local community
Nothing has EVER been done about cream crackers in these areas. Wouldn’t happen in D4 though.
Drive by Donnybrook when the Wesley disco is on, you’ll see four or five guards walking around the general area making sure there’s no messing going on. Meanwhile there’s Garda Stations closing down in other parts of the Country because we don’t have enough Guards..
Exactly!
Just like with cattle there should be a tagging scheme that each horse when born (like cattle) gets tagged within a couple of days of birth this should then be filled onto a animal register. When registered the vet should then come and chip the horse see that the register is filled in properly with just like the bovine side of things including movement of the animals this should be documented legitimately to adhere with standards that D.A.F.F should enforce.!?
All horses and ponies by law must be chipped and have a passport . I would bet that this pony has neither .
Has this something to do with our culture, boss?
Piebalds!
Every person who owns a horse and particularly uses it on the public road should have it chipped and have current insurance, otherwise it get seized just like a car!…its reasonably easy,
Animals left in public parks should removed and sold. If people can’t afford to look after them, they shouldn’t be allowed keep them. If a child Kherson hurt by an animal in public parks who’s responsible.
It should be illegal to have a horse in an urban area, full stop. Although, if they just enforced the existing regulations on chipping and passports for horses, I’m sure they could easily seize most of the horses kept in halting sites
Tesco will take them all day long…
At least it’s a better fate than to be left starving in a ditch
When is this government going to crack down on idiots buying horses , then not able look after them , only registered stable owners and horse trainers should be allowed buy horses
Presumably it was a couple of these little b******s who left the poor animal to die, you know the ones who gallop through the streets and no one gives a damn!
Yes Craig , I call them knackers , socks pulled up over tracksuit bottom , vermin of our society
Absolutely heartbreaking story, when will this cruelty stop?
Pity the person who saw the pony being walked down the canal hadn’t the awareness to take a photo of the perpetrator of this crime.
As if that would make any difference. Which ireland do you inhabit?
It’s not that secluded, it was right along the canal. There was a concerned guy on the phone as we walked across the way from it. Poor animal.
In order to own cattle you must prove you have a proper premises before you can get a herd number to purchase an animal. You must notify every time the animal leaves the premises and tag any animal born on that premises. If you sell an animal you must notify the sale and provide the name address and herd number of the new owner. This is inspected and enforced by the Dept of Ag. If you are found in breech of these regulations heavy penalties apply. Why is this not applied to the equine and canine industries??
Lousy bast@rds should get 6 months in the slammer for this, minimum
Until the authorities get brave and ‘go in’ and round up these ‘horse lovers’ and ban them from ownership it will never get sorted. Food, shelter, secure grazing (that YOU own), and regular observation is essential.
Ownership need not be essential, but the rest yes, I agree. It is already a requirement to register land where equines are kept.
Animal cruelty unfortunately is never seen as an election issue. It is members of all communities who mistreat animals. Tougher sentencing and very heavy fines are needed.
Dislike my comment if you like but anyone who does such an evil act like this needs to die. They have no place on this earth wasting precious oxygen. If I got a pardon for doing it myself I certainly would in a heartbeat. I’d have no regrets that subhumans capable of such an act is no longer breathing.
I hope they get hit by a bus and die in agony. Absolute lowlifes. Serial killers in the making.
Animals are better than most people.
As long as we are happy to let scobies have horses in housing estates because … sure it gives them something to do … then this is what we will continue to see.
People who can’t look after animals should never own an animal again.
Our animal welfare laws are shameful to say the least. A cruelty story every single day to the point we will become desensitised to this suffering. I just couldn’t be around someone who’d harm an animal. It’s the lowest of the low. We should be ashamed.
Hedge hoppers at their finest as usual.. but sure it’s their culture so we can’t say anything can we?
This just makes me really sad
T.ramps
I cannot understand this, a horse will eat an acre of grass or, it will eat a half acre of grass (as my Daddí say’s) and there’s plenty of grass along the canal so, maybe there’s something else wrong with the pony.
Hope it recovers well, just came from feeding my own.
It wouldn’t have been kept on grass, probably a tiny muddy enclosure and left to starve, until on the point of death they walked/dragged the pony along the canal to dump it where it wouldn’t be traced back to them.
This time of the year the grass doesn’t provide nourishment and additional food is required, would of thought someone who has their own horses would know this
Hi Carmel, take a dander along the canal, there’s plenty of grass around Labre Park, probably where the gaunch who owns this wee pony hails from but, as above, I suspect there’s more to this.
have your say