Geraghty v Minister for Local Government

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date01 January 1975
Date01 January 1975
Docket Number[1972 No. 3194 P]
CourtSupreme Court
(S.C.)
Geraghty
and
Minister for Local Government

Public interest - Minister of State - Town planning - Appeal to Minister - Function of Minister - Rules of the Superior Courts, 1962 (S.I. No. 72), Or. 31, rr. 14, 15 -Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 (No. 28), s. 26, sub-s. 5.

Section 26, sub-s. 5, of the Local Government (Planning an Development) Act, 1963, states that any person may appeal to the Minister for Local Government against a decision of a planning authority to grant or refuse an application for permission to develop land, and that the Minister shall determine the application as if it had been made to him in the first instance, and that his decision shall operate to annul the decision of the planning authority as from the time when it was given. The plaintiff appealed to the defendant pursuant to s. 26, sub-s. 5, of the Act of 1963 from a decision of a planning authority refusing to grant her permission to develop her land. The defendant determined the appeal by refusing to grant the required permission and the plaintiff brought an action in the High Court in which she claimed a declaration that the determination of the defendant was ultra vires the Act of 1963 and was void. In making discovery of documents, the defendant objected to the production of "documents covering normal departmental procedure in dealing with an appeal, including arrangements for the oral hearing, departmental minutes between officers of the Minister in relation to the appeal, correspondence between the department and the Chief State Solicitor's office regarding the action" on the ground that the disclosure of documents of that class would be contrary to public policy and detrimental to the public interest. At the hearing of the plaintiff's application for further and better discovery of the said documents, it was Held by Kenny J., after examining the 22 documents in dispute, 1, that the defendant should produce for inspection by the plaintiff 19 of the said documents. 2. That a document containing legal advice to a Minister of State from a qualified legal adviser employed in the Minister's department is in the same category, in regard to privilege, as a document containing such...

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18 cases
  • Nolan v Irish Land Commission
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 1 January 1981
    ...Land Commission [1976] I.R. 375. 19 Irish Land Commission v. Ulster Bank[1978] I.R. 429. 20 Geraghty v. Minister for Local Government [1975] I.R. 300. 21 In re Estate of Roscrea Meat Products Ltd. [1958] I.R. 47. 22 The State (Healy) v. Donoghue [1976] I.R. 325. 23 Conway v. Rimmer [1968] A......
  • Breathnach v Ireland (No. 3)
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 1 January 1993
    ...[1988] 3 W.L.R. 127; [1989] 2 All E.R. 587; (1988) 132 S.J. 898; [1988] L.S. Gaz. July 20, 45. Geraghty v. Minister for Local Government [1975] I.R. 300. Holloway v. Belenos Publications Ltd. [1987] I.R. 405; [1987] I.L.R.M. 790. Kerry County Council v. Liverpool Salvage Association and ano......
  • Smurfit Paribas Bank Ltd v A.A.B. Export Finance Ltd
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 15 February 1990
    ...v. Murtagh [1979] I.R. 249. Folens & Co. Ltd. v. Minister for Education [1981] I.L.R.M. 21. Geraghty v. Minister for Local Government [1975] I.R. 300. Grant v. Downs (1976) 135 C.L.R. 674. Greenough v. Gaskill (1833) 1 My. & K. 98; 39 E.R. 618. Lyell v. Kennedy (1883) 9 App. Cas. 81; (1884)......
  • Goodman International v Hamilton (No. 3)
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 27 May 1993
    ...the jurisprudence of the Irish courts. Murphy v. Corporation of DublinIR [1972] I.R. 215; Geraghty v. Minister for Local GovernmentIR[1975] I.R. 300 and Ambiorix v. The Minister for the EnvironmentIR [1992] 1 I.R. 277 considered; dictum of Carroll J. in E.R. v. J.R.DLRM [1981] ILRM 125 foll......
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