Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-16
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Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel

I will just come back in to address Senator Byrne's contribution. I agree with all of it. I just wanted to come in before the Minister replies. The Senator was right to say that these issues, such as housing, transport and energy, could be "captured". That is correct. I am not advocating for anything parochial. That is right. The Minister has said that before. We cannot get into the minutiae, fine and granular issues, or parochial projects, although I do not mean to take away from the very significant damage caused by flooding in Enniscorthy and other parts of Wexford. It is important that we do not fall into the trap of being parochial, micromanaging or anticipating. Of course, there will be political manoeuvring. That is the very nature of representative constituency politics. However, I presume the Minister and the Ministers who come after him will be strong enough to resist that and there will also be accountability through this process.
The Senator also mentioned being agile and flexible. That is also important and I fully support it. We cannot be too prescriptive but we are talking about a very substantial amount of public money. We are here as elected representatives. We will come and we will go. That is the very nature of politics. We are here for a period of time. We are trying to make this legislation as robust as possible. I do not support anything parochial. It is important that the Minister and the Government have flexibility. It would not be right to be prescriptive in what we are talking about.
What I was trying to touch on is that it is important that we capture the importance of critical infrastructure and how it relates to housing, transport, energy generation and transmission, water supply and wastewater. We know that water supply and wastewater management are critically important and linked to successful applications for planning consent. There is a need for that. Housing is one of our greatest crises but we also need a vibrant, buoyant and competitive economy. That is important too.
I also want to put on the record that I am supportive of this legislation. I said that at the very outset. However, we are on Committee Stage and it is important that we tease out some of these little concerns. I can tell the Minister here and now that I am voting for this legislation. I support it. In all the years I have been here, there have not been too many Ministers who have come into this House and accepted any amendments from the Opposition. That shows an immaturity on the part of some Government Ministers who see fit to just come in here and say "Nay, nay, nay." They do not even really say it; they read it off a bit of paper handed to them from a folder. It is a case of "No, no, no". It is an insult to parliamentary democracy. Those are my few words on that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-16