Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-16
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Patricia Stephenson (SD), Labour Panel

On amendment No. 4, it is slightly more modest in its requirements and it is a bit of a fall-back option if, as I assume, amendment No. 2 will not be accepted. It is important to know what projects are designated as critical and what criteria qualify them for this status. Obviously there will be concerns around people prioritising developments - and I am not saying it about this Minister by the way, just to make that very clear - but it is how we decide where priority projects take place, for example. As I said before, there is no shortage of good projects or projects that need to be done. This amendment is really just another option for getting more clarity and transparency.
What is equally important here in terms of producing the report is the element of foresight. In the future there should be clear evidence of steps that were taken to plan for city infrastructure, not a project shrouded in secrecy that future Ministers cannot look back on and learn from. It sets a precedent for a Minister's successors to act with transparency and it covers the Minister should there be any queries or concerns of legitimacy of the prioritisation process as there is a clear report outlining the decision-making process and the origins of that, and in making informed decisions which we can all participate in.
This is about strengthening confidence in the process that the Minister is introducing. A lot of confidence has been lost in many ways around the whole delivery of infrastructure in Ireland. It would bring that confidence back into the system for us as legislators and for the public as well by ensuring that designation decisions are evidence based, are transparent and are capable of scrutiny. I do not think this is a huge amount to ask for. If Ministers are confident in their designations and confident in the work they are doing then it really is just a matter of good governance and good parliamentary oversight.

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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