IBEC has said it is "alarmed" at the Government's decision to postpone the introduction of a fast-track planning process for major infrastructure projects.

The business lobby group also warned that the current level of activity was insufficient to meet the country's needs and posed a serious threat to economic growth and prosperity.

Speaking at the launch of IBEC's proposals to improve the speed at which major projects are planned and completed, IBEC director general Mr Turlough O'Sullivan said the Government had failed to explain the reason why the Critical Infrastructure Bill, promised for last year, was postponed.

"The view we take is that our needs are very well-known, whether it's roads, rail, waste, energy or telecommunications," he said.

"It seems to us very surprising and downright disheartening to see that an initiative to focus on these needs is to be set aside, for how long we don't know."

Attempts by the previous minister for the environment, Mr Cullen, to get the proposals approved by Government failed, following opposition by some ministers to the inclusion of waste projects in the legislation.

This would have seen the establishment of a National Infrastructure Board as a planning authority for major projects.

The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, in whose Dublin South East constituency an incinerator is planned at Ringsend, has previously stated his opposition to waste projects being included in the legislation.

The existing proposals were withdrawn from Cabinet by the current Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, who said he was reviewing the plans.

Yesterday, Mr O'Sullivan said that "a change in minister was not a good enough reason for shelving something so significant". However, a spokesman for Mr Roche said the Minister was confident of introducing legislation on a Critical Infrastructure Bill, and would be doing so by the middle of the year.

"He is going to bring proposals to the Cabinet," the spokesman said. "They will be restructured from what was previously proposed, and what the Minister wants to do is take a good look at the issue. It is not the case that the legislation has been parked or just left there."

IBEC also called for a fast-tracking of priority projects by the end of the current National Development Plan in December next year. Projects highlighted by IBEC include three power stations currently at various stages of planning, major inter-urban road plans, and waste projects such as incinerators.

Mr O'Sullivan said the lack of waste infrastructure was one of the single biggest concerns, and only 10 of 46 key waste projects that were identified four years ago had been commenced. He added that opposition to projects by both local communities and politicians was blinkered.

"As a nation, we need to grow up. We need to grow up and act as adults, and that includes politicians," he said.

IBEC also said Ireland was already lagging behind many other developed countries according to recent surveys, which was a great concern given the fact that figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicated the population would increase by 25 per cent to surpass five million by 2020.

Its strategy called for the Government to rank infrastructure projects in terms of priority, and for new ways of financing them to be examined.

This included the introduction of domestic water and other charges to pay for specific projects, the greater use of tolls, and investment by the National Pension Reserve Fund in specific projects.