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Government plans for €35,000 fees cap to halt High Court delays to building projects
The Government wants to cap legal fees that can be claimed from the State in environmental planning cases, in a bid to discourage High Court actions against infrastructure and
housing
projects.
Ministers have been taking advice on the measures from Attorney General
Rossa Fanning
this week. This is being done in the hope of stemming the tide of legal actions that
have held up schemes
relating to wastewater, roads and housing.
The move reflects growing anxiety in the Coalition about the need to boost the State's basic infrastructure, as concerns grow about housing delivery being hindered by constraints in electricity and water networks.
One option under discussion is to impose a limit of about €35,000 on legal costs that litigants can claim from the State if they succeed in a judicial review challenge against a planning decision.
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Such moves would apply to High Court cases taken under the Aarhus Convention, an international agreement that governs access to justice in environmental matters.
Minister for the Environment Darragh O'Brien is required, under new planning legislation, to 'prescribe monetary amounts' for costs in Aarhus proceedings, after consulting with Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers.
On this question, the law requires ministers to take into account 'the need to ensure that court and judicial resources are utilised for the common good and in the interests of justice'. They must also consider 'the cost to the Exchequer'.
Such measures are included in the Planning and Development Act of 2024, an extensive body of law to overhaul and speed up the planning process. The act is one of the biggest pieces of legislation in the State's history.
Minister for Housing James Browne is commencing the law in phases, with measures taking force this week to establish An Coimisiún Pleanála in succession to An Bord Pleanála.
The new commission is chaired by Paul Reid
, former chief executive of the Health Service Executive.
Despite the worsening housing crisis, thousands of new homes in certain parts of the Dublin region have been
delayed because they cannot access electricity
.
Uisce Éireann has separately warned it will have no capacity for new housing connections within three years if a new north Dublin wastewater plant does not proceed. Permission for the plant was struck down by the High Court five years ago.
A cap in the region of €35,000 has yet to be settled and people involved in the talks stressed the debate was still open.
'There's a scheme being developed under the legislation but it hasn't been finalised,' said one figure with knowledge of the talks.
Asked for comment on the prospect of a €35,000 cap, Mr O'Brien's spokeswoman said: 'Proposals are currently being developed and will be assessed. No decision has been made at this stage.'
People familiar with the proposal believe it is likely to provoke resistance from environmental campaigners.
Any move to impose a cap would drastically reduce lawyers' earning potential in judicial review cases taken on environmental grounds.
Legal sources say successful litigants often rack up legal fees of hundreds of thousands of euro in cases taken on a 'no foal no fee' basis by lawyers, where litigants incur no fees if they lose.
