Legislative Process
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-16
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Jack Chambers (FF), Dublin West

I do not have the legislation in front of me right now but if the Deputy looks at the Bill itself, the infrastructure definition refers to State-funded projects, for example. The designation is clearly around State-funded or supported infrastructure. I hope that clarifies that point. I know it was raised; I referenced that in my closing remarks on Second Stage as well.
What we are trying to do here is remove this ambiguity and broad statutory interpretation that could emerge from section 15 relating to critical infrastructure projects. I used the example of the ring road simply because in the aftermath of it receiving permission, we already had NGOs saying they were going to use section 15 to try to get it caught up in more knots in the courts.
It is my point that this has gone through all the approval stages and has been going on for decades, and we should get it done and built. We should not have further legislative ambiguity in a piece of legislation which potentially undermines a critical piece of infrastructure. Most of the infrastructure that we are seeking to build out is in public transport and our grid development, all to build a low-carbon future. For regions in the west of Ireland and elsewhere, we do need to build out important strategic road projects which also enhance connectivity and growth.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-16