Legal challenges to critical infrastructure projects on climate grounds will no longer be possible under legislation published by the Government on Wednesday.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers told reporters at Government Buildings that the Critical Infrastructure Bill will mean public bodies building critical infrastructure projects will be immune from challenges on climate grounds.
He said the move would “reduce the risk of unjustified legal challenge, which we know is a serious issue”.
The Bill – due to become law by July – will prevent people taking legal challenges against certain large projects on the grounds that they do not conform with existing obligations in climate legislation.
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“We’re increasingly seeing more and more challenges being brought against planning, licensing and consenting decisions for individual projects,” Chambers said.
“And in my opinion, the weaponisation of the Climate Act ultimately has the perverse effect of slowing many or much of our decarbonisation ambitions.
“Objections to a waste water plant means raw sewage continues to pour into our lakes and rivers. Opposing clean transport solutions means our roads continue to be clogged up by polluting vehicles. Opposing renewable energy leaves us more dependent on imported and increasingly expensive fossil fuels.”
The Minister said the changes in the proposed legislation would mean that “public bodies can no longer be challenged on how they’ve assessed these considerations in their decision-making processes”.
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman condemned the move, describing it as “the death of the Climate Action Act”.
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“It will mean that major projects in areas like energy and transport – some of the biggest building projects in the State – will no longer be checked for their climate impact,” he said. “The Government is in essence repealing the Climate Action Act by the back door.”
Green Party deputy leader Hazel Chu said the move “reflects a Government without any long-term vision who are simply flailing around uselessly”.
Chambers said that once it is on the statute books, the legislation could be used to advance projects that were already under way.
“It can apply to new projects that are maybe commencing or at design or concept stage, but also ones that are within the system presently, to fast track the delivery of projects,” he said.
“Obviously, there’s water infrastructure, transport, energy, and others, which are critical to delivering growth and narrowing the infrastructure gap that Ireland has.”
He also said he hoped legislation to grant the Government emergency powers to push through certain projects was being worked on and would be ready in the autumn.
He said that legislation had a “higher threshold ... that’s going on the edge of what’s legally and constitutionally possible, so [it] has a more complex legal drafting process”.
Chambers said the emergency powers legislation would include the power to “skip a number of the steps” in developing critical projects, enabling the Government to put projects “to the top of the queue”.
Drafting the Bill, however, would be legally fraught, he said.
Accelerating infrastructure delivery is a central priority for the Government this year, having been identified by an influential expert group last year.
Ministers and senior officials have said the slow pace of infrastructure delivery – with big projects often delayed for years by objections, inefficient planning and procurement, and legal challenges – is a significant barrier to the quicker provision of new housing.
Chambers said an action plan published last year by an independent group was largely on track.
