The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment last month launched a consultation on the scale of fees proposed under the Planning and Development Act 2024.

In a detailed submission, the barristers’ body warns that the proposed scale of costs would cap legal fees at well below the real cost of bringing complex planning and environmental judicial review cases.

This would not deter unmeritorious litigants, it argues, but would instead penalise people and environmental organisations raising legitimate concerns about unlawful decisions, by imposing on them the legal costs of fixing the errors of public bodies and State agencies.

Bar Council chairperson Seán Guerin SC said: “The Council of The Bar of Ireland is profoundly concerned about the significant and wide-ranging negative consequences these proposals would have on access to justice.

“When a planning or environmental judicial review succeeds, it means that a decision has not been made in accordance with the law and the judicial review must therefore be considered to be in the public interest.

“Capping recoverable legal costs at levels far below the real cost of bringing these cases would not deter unmeritorious claims. Instead, it would make it much harder for citizens, communities and environmental organisations to bring legitimate cases forward.”

He continued: “We are calling on government to pause and reconsider the proposals which, as set out, are unsound and without any legal or evidential justification.

“We urge government to engage meaningfully with stakeholders and ensure that any reform of costs is evidence-based, proportionate, reflective of the realities of this specialist area of litigation, and safeguards equitable access to the courts in line with Ireland’s legal obligations.

“Judicial review is an essential constitutional safeguard to ensure that government and other public bodies, in particular planning and environmental authorities, act lawfully and rationally. Bad planning decisions have far-reaching consequences.

“High-quality and lawful planning processes and decisions would reduce the need for judicial reviews. It is the view of the Council of The Bar of Ireland that strengthening public-service legal capacity, supported by appropriate training and resourcing, is essential to improving decision-making in the planning process across State bodies.

“In addition, the report of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce has identified a range of improvements required across the administrative and regulatory spheres of the State and the Council urges the Government to proceed in a timely fashion to implement those recommendations.”

Earlier this month, environmental groups An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) called on the government to withdraw the consultation, which closed last week.