The High Court has refused Kieran and Elizabeth Doyle’s request for discovery before their appeal against a Circuit Court possession order is heard. The ruling does not decide that appeal, which remains pending.
Ms Justice Eileen Roberts said the application was premature. The High Court appeal is to be heard by way of a rehearing based on evidence given in the Circuit Court. No application for leave to introduce fresh evidence had been made or granted, and the judge said she would not order documents to be produced before the appeal hearing.
The Doyles’ motion, issued on 25 November 2024, sought discovery under several categories. At the hearing on 28 April 2025, they pursued only the discovery request. Their later request for voluntary discovery, made on 20 December 2024, sought a wide range of material, including documents about the loan assignment, the plaintiffs’ claimed rights to possession, Pepper Finance’s interest in the mortgage, and tracker mortgage reviews.
The possession proceedings were brought by Tanager in the Circuit Court in 2015. On 27 January 2020, that court granted Tanager possession of the property and dismissed the Doyles’ motion to strike out the proceedings. The Doyles appealed on 4 February 2020. Pepper was added as a co-plaintiff in the appeal after a 2021 transfer between the companies.
The judge said the appeal must proceed on the evidence already before the Circuit Court unless the High Court grants leave for fresh evidence. She also noted that the possession case had been heard summarily, without pleadings against which the relevance and necessity of requested documents could be assessed. If the appeal is remitted to a plenary hearing, the appellants may seek discovery by reference to the pleadings exchanged then.
The judge said the Doyles could challenge the respondents’ existing evidence on appeal and that the respondents retained the burden of proving their entitlement to the possession order. She dismissed the discovery application. Costs and final orders, including the transfer of the substantive matter back to the Non-Jury list for a hearing date to be allocated, were listed for mention on 22 May 2025.