An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) say the proposals published in December 2025 would effectively cap the legal costs that NGOs, civil society groups and members of public could recover following successful environmental judicial reviews.

In a letter to climate, energy and environment minister Darragh O’Brien, they allege that the consultation on the new scale “has been conducted in a way that breaches fair procedures which are so unfair that the consultation is unlawful”.

The consultation began on 3 December 2025 and is due to run until 15 January 2026.

In the letter, An Taisce and FIE note that much of the consultation period was during the Christmas and New Year holidays, and noted that key research was not published until 23 December.

A spokesperson for FIE said: “This consultation has profound implications for the environment, the public and Ireland’s legal obligations, but despite over two years’ of preparatory work it was rushed out over Christmas with critical information drip-fed to the public.”

An Taisce added: “This is a wholly inappropriate way to hold a consultation, not least by the Department with responsibility for the Aarhus Convention on the rights to public participation and access to justice.

“We have been contacted by numerous members of the public asking us to explain the consequences of the proposed costs caps.

“The information is so confusing and unclear that we have had to conduct our own information seminar and put together materials to inform the public, at least to the extent we can given the serious deficits in the information provided.”

Both groups have called on Mr O’Brien to “go back to the drawing board and start with a clean slate on legal costs and to withdraw the consultation”.