An Taisce has criticised proposals by South Dublin County Council to rezone a half-built conference centre as giving a signal to developers that they can flout planning laws.
Mr Frank Corcoran, chairman of the conservation group, also said that the main grounds on which An Bord Pleanála rejected the proposal were still valid.
On Tuesday the council published proposals to rezone the site of the 6,000 seat centre at Citywest, in an amendment to its draft development plan.
Mr Jim Mansfield, began work at the site in September last year, two months before it received planning permission, and continued construction on the site into January even though An Taisce had lodged an appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
In March the board upheld An Taisce's appeal on the basis that it was not properly zoned and a centre of this magnitude was more suited to a city centre location.
The council has indicated it will not take legal proceedings to force Mr Mansfield to remove the structure, pending the outcome of a judicial review, taken by the developer against the board's decision.
The council also defended the rezoning decision, stating it had always been in favour of Mr Mansfield's proposal.
Reacting to the rezoning yesterday, Mr Corcoran said the main grounds for the refusal still stood, despite the rezoning.
He said the application had been turned down because there were no public transport links to Citywest.
It was not in line with the national transport policy and the strategic guidelines for the greater Dublin area which is "designed to control traffic congestion in the vicinity of the Red Cow Roundabout".
This is the nearest junction on the M50 to the Citywest hotel complex.
"Traffic on the Red Cow is already a mess, and this is going to make that mess worse".
Mr Corcoran also said that Mr Mansfield had a history of building without planning permission.
The council was giving "a clear signal to him that he should continue this behaviour in not proceeding with legal action against his latest unauthorised development".
"He has clearly learned the lesson that while the planning laws apply to the 'little people', he can, once again, be confident that the local authority will facilitate his unauthorised developments."
Mr John Glynn, the manager of Citywest Hotel said that the delays in the construction of the centre had led to the loss of major conferences, including an international event by computer giant, IBM, which would have led to an additional 4,000 visitors to Dublin.
He said the fact that the Government had short-listed Leopardstown, on the outskirts of Dublin, as a potential venue for a new national conference centre, indicated there was no conflict with Government policy in the positioning of the proposed Citywest conference centre.