Infrastructure plan last throw of dice for a Government that has wasted the boom
Infrastructure plan last throw of dice for a Government that has wasted the boom - The Labour Party
- New plan a recital of things government should have done anyway
- “Curate’s egg” of a plan is “good in parts”
- Labour urges caution on limiting access to environmental justice
Labour’s Public Expenditure & Reform spokesperson Ged Nash TD has described the new Accelerating Infrastructure Report & Action Plan as the last throw of the dice from a government that has managed to waste a boom.
Deputy Nash said:
“Many of the reforms proposed in this curate’s egg of a plan are welcome. Arguably, the plan is a collective recital of the things an effective government should have been doing in any event, but have manifestly failed to do, time and again.
“The plan is an effective admission of the failures of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to deliver the homes, utilities, transport systems and sustainable energy infrastructure fit for a rich Republic.
“The Ireland of 2025 is a rich country that feels poor. We have an enormous infrastructure gap with the IMF confirming that we are one-third behind comparable countries in this regard.
“For once in our history it is not the want of money that’s our problem, but a lack of ambition, delivery and accountability.
“Elements of this plan have the capacity to transform Ireland. The Department of Public Expenditure, under their Minister, needs to change its culture, give public servants their heads and rediscover the reforming, mission-led zeal it abandoned a decade ago.
“It is welcome that approval gates for significant projects will be concertinaed; that a belated injection of common sense will see regulatory approval processes for projects run side-by-side and not sequentially with statutory timelines planned, and that greater co-ordination will be demanded across the public service on infrastructure delivery, land use and access.
“The question is, why was the status quo allowed to persist unchallenged when the country has been crying out for new infrastructure and services?
“A commitment to clear timelines on new frameworks is positive, and if this government has confidence in their new plan, they will ensure that the proposed five-year implementation plans expected of Ministers includes non-negotiable delivery dates for key developments within their briefs.
“The extent to which Ministers and senior public servants are prepared to allow themselves to be held to account for their own performance under this plan will be key.
“We note with concern the government’s outsized focus on issues pertaining to Judicial Review. Access to justice is a cornerstone of this democracy and good government and governance. Government should process with caution on this approach.
“Judicial review is not the bogeyman Ministers and interest groups portrays it to be. It is telling that they have decided to go large on proposals to limit access to this remedy, relegating the other significant and valuable regulatory and administrative reforms to further down the narrative. It would not surprise me if any legislation the government seeks to have enacted in this area is subject to challenge in the European Courts.
“Labour is ambitious for Ireland. We have proposed over many years how we should invest and arrest the sclerotic delivery of key infrastructure and services and we accept that we do not have a monopoly on good ideas. It was on this basis that we supported the principal of the Land Development Agency and the establishment of the two State wealth funds.
“If this plan succeeds, Ireland will do better. This government has bet the farm on this plan working, and we will relentlessly hold Ministers to account on delivery.”