Consultation on Scale of Fees Under the Planning and Development Act 2024 opens
- Published on: 3 December 2025
- Last updated on: 3 December 2025
Proposal aims to bring greater predictability and proportionality to the State's legal costs in environmental judicial reviews
Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien today announced the launch of a public consultation on a proposal to introduce a scale of fees to be applied in certain environmental judicial reviews.
The objective of this proposal is to bring greater predictability and proportionality to the State's legal costs in environmental judicial reviews. It is not to limit access to justice or constrain the right of individuals or communities to challenge decisions.
The Minister, with the government, is committed to improving the delivery of essential infrastructure and is examining how Ireland can improve its performance in this area. This proposal is just one element of a wider series of reform actions to tackle barriers to infrastructure delivery. This is being led by the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. All the initiatives taken together are expected to reduce the need for judicial reviews in the first instance.
In holding this public consultation, the government is inviting all of society to express their views. While the consultation document does provide some guiding questions in relation to the proposals contained in the report for respondents to consider, replies are not limited to them.
Announcing the launch of the consultation, Minister O'Brien said:
"We fully expect the public consultation to attract strong and divergent views, and we welcome input from stakeholders, business and the public alike. This is an important discussion, and it is right that it happens in a transparent and inclusive way."
The consultation document can be accessed on the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment website.
The consultation is open to the public from Wednesday, 3 December 2025 and closes at 5:30pm, on Thursday, 15 January 2026.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
The main elements of the consultation document are as follows:
- Separate scales of legal fees are proposed for standard, complex and very complex cases
- It is proposed that the level of complexity will be considered in terms of legal complexity only
- It is proposed that the presiding judge will determine the level of complexity of the court case
- A proposed fees structure is based on a number of trigger points that would take place during the course of the hearing
- A list of suggested trigger points has been proposed in the report
- It is proposed that the parties will agree the achievement of the trigger points and the appropriate fee to be paid; in default of agreement between the parties the judge will be the final arbiter
- Separate fees have been identified for solicitors, junior counsel and senior counsel
Below is a table – setting out the proposed scale of fees for consultation:
| Workstream | Standard | Complex | Very Complex |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part A - up to the filing of Statement of Opposition | €9,225 | €13,837.50 | €18,450 |
| Part B - up to the filing of the Respondent's legal submissions | €14,760 | €22,140 | €29,520 |
| Part C1 - up to the conclusion of the first instance hearing | €12,300 | €12,300 | €12,300 |
| Part C2 - the second module of a modularised hearing (if applicable) | €7,380 | €7,380 | €7,380 |
| Part C3 - the third module of a modularised hearing (if applicable) | €7,380 | €7,380 | €7,380 |
| Part D - CJEU referral | €12,300 | €12,300 | €12,300 |
| Part E - Work required after proceedings conclude | €4,612.50 | €5,073.75 | €5,535 |
| Part F - Work relating to an appeal | €17,220 | €17,220 | €17,220 |
| Total excluding CJEU referral, and appeal but including Parts C2 and C3 | €40,897.50 | €53,351.25 | €65,085 |
| Total excluding Parts C3, CJEU referral, and appeal but including Part C2 | €48,227.50 | €60,731.25 | €73,185 |
| Total excluding Parts C2, C3, CJEU referral, and appeal | €55,657.50 | €68,111.25 | €80,565 |
This table should be read in the broader context of the consultation documents.