From the nearly 1,900 lobbyists registered in Ireland, many lobby on behalf of the construction industry and property development companies keen to see the Irish property market expand.

One major recent roadblock to these plans is the delay caused by challenges to strategic housing developments (SHDs) by citizen groups through judicial review (JR) challenges in the High Court.

While individuals and groups can appeal local authority planning decisions to An Bord Pleanála, SHDs applications go straight to the planning authority and can only be challenged through JR proceedings.

While these challenges have been described by some commentators as a form of nimbyism, an analysis of judicial review decisions on SHD cases shows that, in the majority of cases decided to date, the courts sided with those challenging An Bord Pleanála’s decision.

While the Government will soon scrap the SHD system to return to the more traditional planning process within local authorities, the State also has plans to change the Judicial Review process that critics warn will make it more costly and difficult for citizens to challenge all planning decisions.

HELP US INVESTIGATE

We want to build a picture of the most active and connected construction industry lobbyists in Ireland, who they are and where they work. As part of this, we will also look into those who are seeking to have the judicial review changed in Ireland and why.

We will speak to legal experts about the impact that the proposed reform will have on access to justice rights for citizens groups and how it stacks up to our obligations under international law.

If you want to make a contribution to help this investigation happen, click the 'Fund This Proposal' button. Noteworthy investigations are sourced from and crowdfunded by the public.

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