June 2026 – Reappointment of members to the P&E Users’ Group
The Judge in charge of the Planning and Environment Court List, in consultation with the President of the High Court, has today reappointed the following members to the Planning and Environment Court Users’ Group:
- Aoife Carroll (PELGBA)
- Alison Fanagan (A&L Goodbody)
- Attracta Ui Bhroin (Environmental Law Ireland)
- Conor Minogue (CSSO)
- Eimear O'Doherty (Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council)
- Fred Logue (FP Logue LLP)
- Jonathan Moore (Fieldfisher LLP)
- Kevin Baneham (An Coimisiún Pleanála)
- Lucy Haggan Logan (CSSO)
- Luke McCann (FP Logue LLP)
- Rachel Minch (Philip Lee LLP)
- Stephen Dodd (PELGBA)
- Tara Hegarty (South Dublin County Council)
- Tom Flynn (PELGBA)
The Judge in charge of the List will continue to serve as chair and the Registrars primarily assigned to the List will remain ex officio members of the Users’ Group.
A further notice may issue in due course regarding any additional opportunities for appointment that may arise.
We would like to thank all members, past and present, for their valuable contributions to date and we look forward to continuing the work of the Group in improving and supporting the efficient and effective operation of the List.
April 2026 - New Practice Direction
A new practice direction HC 137 has been made by the President with effect from 13 April 2026.
The previous practice direction HC 126 is revoked from that date.
The following documents are still in effect:
February 2026 – Form to Apply for a Date
List participants are advised that an updated Form to Apply for a Date is now available within Practice Direction HC126 and should be used for any further applications until further notice.
– Public consultation on draft Practice Direction
A draft Practice Direction is under consideration to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Planning & Environment Court. Observations are sought on the attached draft. Where amendments are suggested, exact proposed text would be welcome. Any observations should be received at environment@courts.ie by 16:00 on Friday 23 January 2026.
– New rules for the Planning and Environment Court
New rules for the Planning and Environment Court S.I. No 246 of 2025 have been signed and will come into effect on 18 June 2025.
– Duration of hearings and time allocation
Due to pressure of business the court will probably be unable to accommodate hearings of more than 12 hours in Michaelmas 2025.
If parties are anticipating seeking a longer time allocation, they might reflect on whether matters can be shortened and/or modularised in some productive manner.
– List of recurring cases and materials
In line with Practice Direction HC97, a list of some recurring cases and materials in the Planning & Environment Court of which the parties are deemed to be on notice—and which therefore need not be included in lists of authorities and may be referred to in judgments without being specifically cited—is now available for download here.
Parties are also reminded that the court is separately required to take judicial notice of various relevant pieces of law, some of which are referred to in the list of materials.
Finally, the court has a general entitlement to reference materials in a judgment not specifically cited or included in published lists such as the present one. If such separate material would change the result the court would otherwise arrive at, the parties would be given notice. In the absence of such notice, parties can assume that any such material reinforced rather than changed the result the court was otherwise minded to reach.
