Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-16
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Conor Murphy (SF), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I move amendment No. 5:
In page 5, line 40, after “completed” to insert “and to comply with relevant binding time-limits that will be issued by the Minister within four weeks of the passage of this Act”.
As most of us said at the outset, we are supportive of the idea of the Bill. We want to see critical infrastructure being done more efficiently, speedily and cost effectively. We hope the legislation in front of us will achieve those outcomes but we have added suggestions and proposals to put to it. None have been successful thus far but we continue to press the case.
This amendment proposes to insert a provision on the relevant binding time limits. This is about accountability. As we have all said, this is very significant legislation. The Government is saying that this piece of work needs to be fast-tracked. We believe the addition of time limits would strengthen that process and add a further level of accountability. If we are going to do what it says on the tin with the legislation, we need to strengthen it to make sure that is the case.
This amendment was put forward in the Dáil and was not supported. I hope that the Minister has had an opportunity to reflect on that and to see a genuine attempt to strengthen the provisions of the Bill to achieve exactly the outcome that we all hope to achieve from its passage, and that he can now reconsider supporting the amendment.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-16