Engineers and business lobby groups have criticised a decision by Government to postpone plans for a fast-track planning system for major infrastructure projects.
Yesterday The Irish Times reported that the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, had withdrawn from Cabinet proposals for a Critical Infrastructure Board, and that he would be re-examining the plans.
Proposals for the board were announced last year by the then minister for the environment, Mr Cullen, at the Fianna Fáil Ardfheis. He failed to reach agreement at Cabinet, due to opposition from colleagues to the inclusion of incinerators and waste infrastructure in the legislation.
Yesterday the Institute of Engineers in Ireland (IEI) called on Mr Roche to reverse his decision, and said the proposal was absolutely necessary to decrease delays in major building projects.
Mr Kevin Kernan, director general of IEI, said Ireland's infrastructure ranked 28th out of 29th in the 2003 World Competitiveness Yearbook.
"Ireland is still a premier division economy with third division infrastructure," he said.
Mr David Pierce, president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, said serious planning delays "rank as the biggest threats to Dublin's ability to compete internationally for foreign direct investment".