Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council today secured an injunction to defer arbitration of a €116 million compensation claim by a company under investigation by the Flood tribunal over the rezoning of its lands at Carrickmines.
Jackson Way Properties Ltd (JWPL) brought the claim for compensation against the council because some of its Carrickmines lands are to be bisected by the new South Eastern motorway.
At a High Court hearing this morning, Mr Justice Philip O'Sullivan said the company appeared to have a Byzantine share structure and he would defer assessment of the claim until the Flood tribunal had investigated the matter.
He also said that the decision was influenced by the public interest in the case but it was in no way a judgment against JWPL.
However, Mr Justice Sullivan said the arbitrator was free to assess the lands involved at their agricultural values. JWPL had made the case that but for the motorway scheme the entire lands would have been zoned residential, increasing the company's claim.
The claim hearing by the arbitrator, Mr John R Shackleton, was due to have started in mid-January, but was deferred when the council took proceedings against the arbitration.