Dáil bill will allow IDA to compulsorily purchase land following Supreme Court ruling

A bill introduced to the Dáil will provide a statutory basis for IDA Ireland to compulsorily purchase land after a landmark Supreme Court ruling flagged up issues in the existing legislation.

The Industrial Development (Amendment) Bill 2018 will allow the IDA to compulsorily purchase land after a previous attempt to do so in 2015 was found to be ultra vires.

In Reid -v- Industrial Development Agency & others IESC 82, Mr Justice William McKechnie set aside the first compulsory purchase order made under section 16 of the Industrial Development Act 1986.

The bill has been introduced to the Dáil by Business Minister Heather Humphreys and welcomed by Fianna Fáil.

James Lawless, science and technology spokesperson for Fianna Fáil, told the Sunday Independent: “The bill addresses issues which arose in the ‘Reid case’ where the IDA attempted to purchase land adjacent to Intel in Leixlip but were unable to do so. The protracted legal saga that followed was damaging to all concerned.

“It is in the public interest that the IDA (or other state agencies where appropriate) can move quickly in these cases and make provision for large-scale investment where that is in the greater good.

“The constitution certainly safeguards property rights but no rights are absolute. There must always be a balancing of rights and the public interest in the development of employment and local investment may at times outweigh an individual land interest.”