A challenge to a ministerial decision allowing the installation of a renewable energy test facility off the Connemara coast is to be fast-tracked in the Commercial Court.

The action concerns a decision by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government granting permission to the Marine Institute, the State agency responsible for implementation of marine research and technology, for a foreshore lease to construct and operate an electricity generating station for 35 years.

The permission also includes proposals to facilitate the development of a 37.5 hectare site, located 1.5km offshore from Spiddal, where prototype wind, wave and tidal energy devices are to be tested.

The challenge is by Máire Ni Mhuirnín, a teacher from Páirc, An Spidéal, Co Galway, who got permission from the High Court last March to bring judicial review proceedings against the Minister aimed at quashing the August 2017 decision.

In her action she claims the decision is contrary to EU directives on environmental impact and the conservation of natural habitats of wild fauna and flora.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, a notice party to the action, applied on Monday to have the case admitted to the fast-track Commercial Court.

Serious impact

The authority, which works with the Marine Institute in regard to the Galway test site, says the project will permit the assessment and development of commercial-scale wave-energy production off the Irish coast.

It says any delay in determination of the action would have a serious impact on the operation and viability of the test site.

It claims if the action is successful, research and development activities undertaken at the site would cease, and the ability of the authority and the Marine Institute to carry out functions assigned to them under the State’s Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan would be undermined.

The Marine Institute is also a notice party to the action.

On Monday, Mr Justice David Barniville said he was satisfied to admit the case to the Commercial Court list. He has made directions with a view to having the matter return before the court in November.