Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

——but from its own resources, because of the excellent management of the economy, which the Senator is not prepared to recognise.

There is a notion out there that this Bill is not needed. Many important projects have been seriously delayed. Given that some of them have now gone ahead, one might ask why they were held up. There were protests in the Glen of the Downs and in Carrickmines. I have never heard of a case where the NRA decided to bulldoze through a 30-foot standing castle and run a road through it. Standing structures are always avoided, but all that was left of Carrickmines Castle was underground.

Another example of these delays was the Kildare bypass, as is the prolonged controversy over the gas terminal in Mayo. The long delays in these decisions are not in the national interest and a more streamlined approach to infrastructure is needed. The governments of states with good infrastructure, such as France, do not hang around for years with appeals, judicial hearings and so on. We should think of the inconvenience that causes to the public. I am in favour of proper, thorough debate about important infrastructure decisions. Such a debate occurred over the proposed M3 and the Hill of Tara. The overwhelming conclusion was that the right route had been chosen and should proceed.

This legislation needs to be handled with sensitivity. If it was used in an attempt to push through bad decisions, difficulties might arise in obtaining public consent for the planning process. It must be used sensibly in well-considered decisions. For issues such as social housing, it is up to the leaders of local authorities to see that the spirit of the legislation is implemented. Like Senator Moylan, I regret that some developers are simply buying out their obligations. However, to behave in that manner, managers of local authorities need a clear signal from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I know of more than one local authority that consists of officials with plenty of drive, who insist that this be carried through and who do not let people off the hook.

Reference was made earlier to incineration. Listening to the argument, one would think that landfill was an extremely environmentally-friendly method of disposing of waste, but of course it is a filthy method. The argument against incineration is very unbalanced in that respect.

Senator Ryan made the point that public investment should lead development and not just follow it. I believe that lesson is being learned. In the Adamstown development, provision is being made for a station. The Cork to Midleton railway line is meant to focus development along the route and is not just following development.

I do not think the legislation will treat the substrata of a piece of land as of no value if fabulous mineral wealth is located under that land. However, compensation should not be paid for something that has little to do with what is overground. For at least 150 years, this country has been bedevilled by the amount of compensation that must be paid to acquire land and to proceed with development. This area needs critical examination. Small strips of land that are no bigger than this Chamber can cost between €1 million and €3 million and that is not a good use of taxpayers' money.