Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I will speak in general terms about some of the issues raised by this legislation. As my contribution will be split, I will consider the Bill in detail when the debate resumes.

We need to move beyond the message that is often emphasised in the media and in political circles during debates on infrastructural development. I refer to the suggestion that we are incompetent, that we are unable to build things without going over budget and encountering delays and that things always go wrong for us. I do not think such an approach will help us to ensure this country makes progress. Having spent approximately 15 years campaigning in the area of infrastructural development, particularly transport projects, I have confidence in the people who are involved in this sector. I refer to people like Mr. Fred Barry, chief executive officer of the National Roads Authority. Now that the NRA has been given sufficient resources and is able to operate on a grand scale, we are starting to see that it is able to deliver roads which stand up to international comparison and to avail of the best international expertise. Mr. Frank Allen, chief executive officer of the Railway Procurement Agency, is a top-class financier who has worked with the World Bank and other institutions which deliver projects. I am proud that an Irish person like Mr. Allen can deliver internationally. I do not think there is any reason he and his team will not deliver here if we give them the proper resources and structures. I am happy to listen to and value the judgment of someone like Mr. John Henry, director of the Dublin Transportation Office, because his views, analysis, experience and expertise as an engineer and a planner are the best one could get anywhere in the world.

When I consider the ability of officials like those I have mentioned, I am convinced that the ability and talent we need is available to us. Therefore, what is the problem? I have to state clearly and in a neutral and objective manner that, from my experience, the problem is purely political. The Ministers who have been in office for the past ten years have been incompetent and short-sighted in their approach. They have been compromised. They are secretive and insensitive. When one examines the decisions they have made over the past ten years it is clear they have always been political, rather than strategic, in their thinking. This country has suffered as a result of the form of thinking that has been a feature of those at the highest level. Regardless of how good one's officials, planners and engineers are, one has a problem if thinking at the most senior political level is so short-sighted and narrow and is so informed by vested interests. I am confident this State's officials can deliver, but I have no confidence in the ability of the office of the Minister opposite to deliver the right transport, waste and other infrastructure.

See this speech in context