Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Mr. Strachan. Comparisons are often made with the cost at which countries such as China are able to build high-speed rail. I am not entirely sure what the public participation is in the planning process in China or if it is the same as it is in our planning process. I am sure there are different scenarios in the planning system but public engagement is needed and has to be respected. The public, the people who live in an area, often have the best local knowledge and it is important to tap into that knowledge when doing a project. Nevertheless, I sense considerable frustration that these projects seem to take a long time. The delay can often be political, when we have a change of Government and changing priorities and then another change in Government. This means priorities are tapped around the whole time. With our national planning framework and national development plan, we have tried to take that political aspect out of the process by saying these are the projects that will be built.

Given the large-scale infrastructure transport projects Mr. Strachan has worked on across the world, he considers that, as regards how well we do them, the speed at which we do them and the manner in which we design and fund them, Ireland competes and is comparable to anything out there.