Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-20 ============================================================ Jack Chambers (FF), Dublin West Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí as an díospóireacht inniu. I thank Senators for their contributions to the debate and their engagement on the Bill. As I have said on a number of occasions, my priority is the acceleration of the delivery of critical infrastructure that the country needs and deserves. We all want to see speedy delivery of key projects and programmes that are critical to our economy's and our society's continued development and resilience. This legislation will play a key role in facilitating that. It sends a clear signal and direction across government and to delivery agencies and shows the wider public that we are stepping up to the plate to deliver a much-needed critical infrastructure. I appreciate the views that have been expressed this evening and the broad consensus on the need for reform. We had a lot of contributions, many of which referenced specific local projects. The Bill does not reference specific projects or programmes. Rather, it provides the Government with the power to designate programmes or projects following my written recommendation. It is important that we have a process that allows for the development of critical and national infrastructure. The prioritisation that will emerge from this legislation in the context of delivering things at speed will drive prioritisation in circumstances where we will not be able to allocate or designate everything. We have tried to reference three critical areas which are the foundations of every community and local economy and that are all geared towards a better national economy in terms of transport facilities, including ports and airports, and transport systems, including roads and railways, energy generation, transmission and distribution systems and water supply, wastewater and waste management systems. We referenced these three areas because they are the categories of infrastructure that underpin the provision of all other infrastructure, whether economic or social. Some have mentioned the needs of other areas in the context of the legislation. While it does not exclude the potential for other areas to be covered, the Bill does state that infrastructure includes, but is not limited to, those areas. As such, it does not exclude the potential for other infrastructure to be designated as critical. The Government has flexibility in this regard in terms of healthcare and other areas. I intend to commence the process of identifying projects and programmes after the Bill is enacted. While I will make a recommendation to the Government, the final decision will be for the Government to make. We had a lot of commentary around pre-legislative scrutiny. There is a need for scrutiny, on the one hand, and urgency, on the other. There is a need to drive urgency and make progress. That is why the accelerating infrastructure task force has reached a broad consensus around speed, reform and much better co-ordination across the State. That is essentially what we are seeking to do with the Bill. I disagree with some of the remarks relating to the climate Act. I am strongly of the view that the disapplication of section 15 is necessary in order to accelerate the provision of critical infrastructure in the country. Leaving such projects open to a subjective determination of whether a public body has adequate regard to a range of climate policies and strategies only opens another potential avenue for judicial review and hence delay. I ask the people who are asking me to provide urgency, speed and delivery to stop outsourcing to the big cottage industry that has built up among---- --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-20/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:58+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-20