Judicial reviews being ‘weaponised’ to halt developments, says housing minister

Judicial reviews are being “weaponised” by some people aiming to grind developments to a halt, the housing minister has said.

James Browne made the comments as he announced plans to allow for the extension of planning permissions for housing developments nearing the end of their duration and not yet commenced.

The permissions can be extended for up to three years under the bill brought forward by Mr Browne and Minister of State John Cummins.

The proposals will also allow planning permissions subjected or going through a judicial review to apply for a retrospective suspension of the permission for the duration of the judicial review.

Mr Browne said: “I do believe judicial reviews have been weaponised by some people with a view that, simply, if you delay a project long enough, the project will fall.

“That’s not everybody, and judicial reviews are a legitimate part of our legal process.

“That’s why, under the Planning and Development Act, what we are doing is tightening up judicial reviews to ensure that only those who have a legitimate interest in a project can bring forward their objections to it.

“I think the Planning and Development Act will really help to curtail the weaponising of judicial reviews but allow people with legitimate concern to exercise their concerns.”

Mr Cummins said there was “evidence of a significant number” of planning permissions for housing that are due to expire which have not yet commenced construction.

He said this was either because they had lost money through the judicial review process or they had been unable to commence construction and have enough time to reach substantial completion.

Mr Browne said the bill contains a “use it or lose it” element, which requires commencement within 18 months of legislation passing to get the extension.

“This is not a free pass for people who have planning permissions, and it’s a recognition that many people with planning permissions have faced challenges over the last number of years,” Mr Browne said.

“There is an activation measurement here that they must commence within 18 months of the legislation passing.

“So they have six months to apply for the extension of two years for those that are not subject to the judicial review. But the clock in terms of commencements also begins when the legislation passes as well, and that was appropriate to apply for the extension in the early part of those six months, because whether they apply at the start, at the end, the clock for the 18 months to commence to get that extension will already be running.”

Mr Browne was also asked about housing projections by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) given to the housing committee on Tuesday.

The ESRI has said that just over 34,000 new builds will be built this year while 37,000 homes will be built next year.

Mr Browne said that the government’s target of 41,000 new builds this year would be “extremely challenging” and that all projections are “trending in and around the ESRI’s prediction”.

“I don’t particularly like getting into predictions at this point in time.

“Certainly, I think the 41,000 is extremely challenging at this point in time.

“The ERSI are a very reputable body. I’m going to engage with the ESRI, with their report and see exactly how they’re putting their numbers together.

“There’s a number of different numbers out there right now, but they are all trending in and around the ESRI’s prediction at the moment.”

Asked about the Government’s target of 300,000 homes by the end of 2030, he later told RTE’s Prime Time it would be “very dangerous” to make predictions on full-term delivery at this time.