Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

First of all, "Yes" is the answer. We will. Utilities need certainty. Utilities can be a great enabler of both housing and infrastructure. The national development plan will reflect the prioritisation of water in particular, expansion of the grid and public transport along with road infrastructure. The Minister, Jack Chambers, has established an infrastructure division within the Department of public expenditure and a team of sectoral experts has been seconded from key agencies to the division. That division is already focusing on the electricity, water and transport sectors. It is focused initially on the preparation of an evidence-based, systematic assessment of the barriers impeding timely infrastructure development. It is engaging with key stakeholders to identify those critical barriers. It has begun a public consultation, which was launched on 6 June. A stakeholder engagement event is scheduled for 18 June in Athlone. It will also examine what reforms have been successfully introduced in other jurisdictions that may be applicable in Ireland. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, will provide a report to the Government by the end of July on what have been identified as the most significant barriers slowing infrastructural development, and we will work on those.

I will say this, though, in terms of judicial reviews. I believe all planning should as far as humanly possible be decided on in the layers of planning institutions we have established - local authorities and An Bord Pleanála. Ultimately, planning should not be decided in the court but people are applying to the courts the length and breadth of the country. Governments cannot abolish the law. In the Planning Act, it was interesting. We did try to streamline the law and the whole area around judicial review. There was a lot of opposition in the House to it. People wanted to reduce the impact of the Planning Act that we took three years to get through this House. People were adamant that rights came before anything else in some quarters, in other words, the eternal question of the common good versus personal, individual rights. Given the population growth in this country, given the housing need in this country, I think the overall common good should triumph, given the situation we find ourselves in.

We have very good examples, by the way, of very good infrastructure that has been delivered on time and on budget, but we never hear of those projects because they are not newsworthy, really. When they get done on time and in budget, that is the end of it. No one really wants to talk about them. It is the ones that are over budget and behind time. Take the Shannon water scheme. The Government has approved that but there will be opposition. Public representatives have said they are going to oppose it. It is essential for the midlands, it is essential for Dublin, that we get that project through but there will be opposition.

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