James Bannon (Fine Gael)

There are 100,000 individuals still waiting for a council house. An estimated 120,000 children live in consistent poverty. Over 230,000 children are living in relative poverty. There is no rail link to any airport anywhere in this country and after a decade of prosperity this simply should not be the case. The people of this country work hard. The Government should be spending better and investing smarter.

There is much to be welcomed in the Bill. The list of projects that have the potential to be fast-tracked is impressive. The projects relating to transport and the road network are crucial. These are the two areas where we must advance quickly. The Bill allows for a streamlined planning process for key infrastructural projects, including an installation for the harnessing of wind power for energy production with more than 50 turbines or a total output greater than 100 MW, or an installation for hydroelectric energy production with an output of 300 MW or more.

I am particularly glad that the Minister has adopted a Fine Gael policy and allowed for the fast-tracking of wind farm construction to help Ireland increase electricity generation from wind. It is vital that we increase our output of electricity from renewable sources. Wind power is known as an "oil well in the sky". For its part, Fine Gael is committed to having one third of our electricity generated from renewable sources within 20 years. This is an ambitious target and one which will need this type of legislation if it is to be reached.

However, this Bill alone will not fast track anything. What we should concentrate on today is what is not in place. While welcoming the Bill, Fine Gael believes the total absence of judicial reform that came with the publication of the Bill will still see planning applications subject to inordinate delays. The fact that today's Bill is not accompanied by any reform of the judicial appeals process, where the real delays in getting these infrastructure projects up and running lies, shows that this Bill is about headlines rather than getting things done. With the courts taking almost two years to decide on cases of strategic infrastructural importance, there is little prospect of the Minister delivering on his promise to speed up delivery of these key projects.

Perhaps the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform's ongoing dispute — Senator White referred to it this morning — with the Minister, Deputy Roche, over the Poolbeg facility is now having national consequences. Why was the Ringsend incinerator excluded from the fast track plan? Was it due to the intervention of the Minister, Deputy McDowell, or Senator White? She is displaying literature on the subject in the House as I speak. She is calling for the abandonment of the proposed incinerator in Ringsend——