The Taoiseach has rejected Green Party allegations that the Government is attempting to sideline An Bord Pleanála through the creation of the new National Infrastructure Body.
Mr Ahern insisted the "streamlined one-stop shop" to fast-track planning for major infrastructural projects would assist the planning appeals board, which had a "huge workload".
Green Party leader Mr Trevor Sargent asked the Taoiseach what An Bord Pleanála "has done that is so wrong that he considers it necessary to sideline it, which is effectively what will happen if the proposed infrastructure board is established".
But Mr Ahern said his "difficulty with An Bord Pleanála is the inordinate amount of time it takes to make decisions on major projects because of its huge workload.
"This proposal will assist it in that regard," he said. "Some major projects take up an enormous amount of the board's time, which is understandable. The hard-working staff in the board need assistance." He stressed that the new body would ensure "faster decision-making while still ensuring that all environmental and other issues are fully examined".
Mr Sargent then accused the Taoiseach of "having the gall to blame the presence of swans for creating the opposition to the bridge at the Malahide estuary".
"Does he not agree that his neck is much tougher than that of any swan, given that Ray Burke and his Fianna Fáil cronies rezoned the original road line for that development. The problem was not the swans but the rats in his party who have difficulty telling right from wrong and complying with the law."
Mr Ahern retorted that Mr Sargent "has the hardest neck of all as you and a small group of people were responsible for adding hundreds of millions of euro to the cost of projects because of delays and protests".
He added that "running the country is also concerned with the creation of jobs" and the deputy might only be interested in his own job "but I am interested in the 1.8 million jobs in this country".
"As long as deputy Sargent continues to protest, it will be harder to generate jobs because applications will incur greater costs," he said.
Mr Sargent had claimed the Taoiseach wanted to "challenge decisions made by the board on projects such as the one at Ballincollig and the Shell (Corrib gas) project" and he asked if Mr Ahern agreed with media reports that proposed board would be more concerned with "fast-tracking the building of incinerators and other such projects, which he know local communities will not accept".
But Mr Ahern said the Corrib gas field application had been through the planning process and rejected. He had advised Shell that it would have to repeat the process because the infrastructure legislation would not be in place.
