Legislative Process
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-16
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Jennifer Whitmore (SD), Wicklow

No one can argue that we do not need to speed up infrastructure in this country. We have had a huge infrastructure deficit for decades and there are major infrastructure projects that we need to move on very quickly. Many of them will have a climate-positive outcome. However, it is incredible that while the Government is saying that climate obligations will remain central to those projects and the assessment of them, the Minister and the Government are bringing in a Bill that will disapply the climate Act. It essentially sets it aside and says that it will not be part of the process in the designation and the assessment of it. What the Government is doing by doing this is completely eroding the strength of the climate Act and the need for it. The Minister knows how difficult it was to get that climate Act through in the last Dáil and how important it is. All the climate Act says in section 15 is that a relevant body "shall have regard to". It is not a large or high bar for this Government to meet when it comes to building infrastructure. Why is the Government trying to undermine it?

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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