Paul Nicholas Gogarty
Question:90. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications for an update on proposals for a scheme of legal aid for environmental litigation. [1153/25]
View answerWednesday, 22 January 2025
Questions (90)
Written answers
Part 9 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 provides, inter alia, for the setting up of a legal cost financial assistance mechanism by way of Regulations, to address the legal costs in planning and environment related judicial reviews.
An interdepartmental working group (IDG) has been set up to discuss how to bring this provision forward.
The IDG is made up of representatives of
Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications,
• Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage,
• Department of Justice,
• Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Deliver and Reform,
• Attorney General’s Office,
• Department of the Taoiseach,
• The Courts Service of Ireland,
• National Treasury Management Agency, and a
• A private consultant.
The first meeting of the IDG was held in November 2023 and it has met on nine occasions subsequently. A stakeholder consultation was conducted during July/August 2024 and the submissions received have informed the discussions of the IDG.
It is expected that the group will be in a position to report back to Government on its deliberations shortly.
While future steps in the development of a scheme will be a matter for the incoming Government, it has been my intention to seek the advice of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee in relation to the complex issues raised in developing the scheme.