The Minister for Integration has conceded in a High Court challenge to his order facilitating the expedited development of accommodation for 1,000 male asylum seekers on a site in Athlone, Co Westmeath.
At the High Court on Monday, Oisín Collins SC told Mr Justice Richard Humphreys that his client’s case “is being conceded” by the Minister and that the development would be considered an “unauthorised development”.
The Government’s plan is for 1,000 asylum seekers to be housed in up to 150 tents on a site to the rear of an existing direct provision centre in Lissywollen, Athlone. It is proposed that the tents would eventually be replaced with modular units.
Mr Collins’s client, local Independent councillor Paul Hogan, challenged a statutory instrument by Roderic O’Gorman that confirmed the project did not need An Bord Pleanála approval. It also noted Mr O’Gorman was satisfied two specific EU law environmental assessments did not need to be conducted before proceeding with the plan.
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[ High Court to hear challenge to accommodation for 1,000 asylum seekers in AthloneOpens in new window ]
The case had been due to run on Thursday, but could now be simply mentioned then, said the State’s senior counsel, Aoife Carroll.
Mr Hogan’s case claimed the ministerial process providing for the accommodation plan was unlawful, irrational and a breach of fair procedures.
A fundraising website, which amassed more than €50,000 in donations, said the challenge was being brought on behalf of Mr Hogan and four other Athlone-based representatives, including freshly re-elected independent TD Kevin “Boxer” Moran, councillors Frankie Keena and Aengus O’Rourke of Fianna Fáil, and John Dolan of Fine Gael.
Mr Hogan’s case sought an order either pausing or quashing the Minister’s statutory instrument.
The councillor claimed the Minister failed to adequately screen the project for potential environmental impacts and that he lacked the expertise to carry out such assessments. There were also deficiencies in the assessment of wastewater requirements and effect on traffic, Mr Hogan claimed.
He claimed the occupants would be free to move about and would “inevitably cause a significant traffic hazard and a health and safety issue” next to the site and along the road.
In an affidavit, Mr Hogan said local councillors were informed about the Government’s plan on October 7th and had “no prior consultation or communication” from the Department of Integration.
He submitted that Athlone had a long tradition of providing accommodation and support to people seeking international protection, with one of the first direct provision centres in the State constructed on the adjoining Lissywollen site in 2001.
Mr Hogan submitted that he and other members of Westmeath County Council believed the proposed development would be “prejudicial to public health” as local health services were already overburdened.
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