There was a major development in the High Court this morning in the case involving the decision by Westmeath County Councillor Paul Hogan who successfully challenged an exempted planning permission for the State owned IPAS centre at Lissywollen on environmental and planning grounds.
Justice Emily Farrell had adjourned the case last week to allow the State to produce evidence that they were in the process of drafting legislation that would circumvent a decision by the Court which would in effect mean that the State would have to vacate Lissywollen of the International Protection applicants currently there.
On July 21, State Counsel Aoife Carroll had said that legislation was not as advanced as hoped and Justice Farrell had given them until today with some expectation that the Court would rule in favour of Westmeath.
That was until last night when the State produced out of the hat a ‘General Scheme of a Planning and Development Act (Planning Status of State sites) Amendment Bill 2025’ that will be placed before the Dáil in November.
Justice Farrell adjourned to September 26 on acceptance of this. This morning David O’Brien BL argued that, in the light of the continued delays and failure to produce promised legislation stretching back over months, the promise to produce the legislation by November date is “untenable.”
There was no mention in the media of the proposed legislation having been put before the Cabinet yesterday morning and the document is unusual in that it is unsworn and that it refers to no Department nor is signed by any Minister.
The Bill proposes to ensure that “development undertaken pursuant to Ministerial Orders made under section 181(2) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, the development in question being judged by the Minister who made the Order to be required by reason of an accident or emergency, may be regularised.”
In almost Kafkaesque language it goes on to state that even “where the said Order had subsequently been rescinded,” that any works undertaken on the basis of that rescinded Order will be “regularised” so that “operations may proceed as envisaged under the original Ministerial Orders.”
In plain man’s language this means that even though the State has been challenged by Westmeath County Councilor Paul Hogan and supported by Councillors Aengus O’Rourke, Frankie Keena and John Dolan, and been forced to concede on the validity of the Statutory Instrument that provided the legal basis for the asylum centre in Athlone, and similar to those at Crooksling, Thornton Hall and elsewhere; that the new legislation will allow the State to ignore all of that and to proceed with the maintenance of existing or planned asylum accommodation centres on State lands.
Almost laughably, and despite the opposition of the democratically elected local authority in Westmeath and the clear opposition of communities across the state to IPAS centres, Head 3 of the scheme cites as part of its rationale that “There is a continuing public interest in maintaining or proceeding with the development authorised by the Original Order.”
The Original Order being the Statutory Instrument they were forced to concede, and the “development authorised” in fact being one that had no authorisation by any competent authority other than the Will of the State that it be installed and maintained in in the absence of any such authorisation.
We have already shown that in the cases of Crooksling and Citywest that there was not even any notification to South Dublin County Council.
To further avoid the inconvenience of local opposition – including that which has been clearly and unequivocally made clear by Westmeath, Kilkenny and Wicklow County Councils – the Scheme of the Bill allows the Minister up to two years “after the quashing/invalidation of the previous order” to go straight to An Coimisúin Pleanála (formerly An Bord Pleanála) for a screening report thus avoiding any democratic oversight or decision.
To put all of this into context: If you or I built even a modest extension or structure on our own property that did not have proper planning permission, the Council would issue an enforcement order and if you did not comply would send the boys with the JCB to smash it down.
If you are the State, on the other hand, you can ride roughshod over your own planning regulations and if forced to revoke a permission can just go ahead anyway. And what is more, you can introduce new legislation to in effect legalise what are illegal asylum accommodation centres.