Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

Will Deputy O'Dowd allow me to finish? He will be pleasantly surprised when he sees the Bill's provisions on that issue. As to the issue of allowing only projects requiring an environmental impact statement to go before special hearings of An Bord Pleanála, while I am conscious of what must be done in this regard, the Deputy will have to wait until the detail comes through to see it.

I agree with the Deputy and other Deputies who have made similar observations that this is probably the only country in the world in which major infrastructural projects are held up time and again in the courts. While it is the right of every citizen to take a case to court, and the Deputy has not suggested this right should be truncated in any way, the propensity here has been to bring major projects before the courts simply to achieve delay and cost overruns. Striking the right balance is a serious matter.

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