The Government is due to announce new procedures for the fast-tracking of major infrastructural projects, including incinerators, roads and airport facilities in the coming days as part of a major reform of An Bord Pleanála, writes Liam Reid, Political Reporter.
However it has yet to reach agreement on a way to speed up High Court planning cases, which have taken an average of 13 months to be processed through the courts and are now the principal cause of delay in major infrastructure cases.
The Cabinet is to be asked today by the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, to approve the introduction of the new critical infrastructure Bill, which will lead to the introduction of a new division of the An Bord Pleanála to deal with major public infrastructure projects.
Qualifying projects will move directly to the division and will not apply for planning permission to a local authority. There will also be mechanisms to provide for ongoing consultation between planning officials in the division and the promoters of the infrastructure project before an application is made.
The new legislation is considerably different to the original proposals, which had to be abandoned in the face of stiff opposition from Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and officials in An Bord Pleanála.
Mr McDowell, who is opposed to the siting of an incinerator in his Dublin South East constituency at Ringsend, has received assurances that the project will not be included in the new fast-track planning process.
The original plans, announced in 2003 at the Fianna Fáil ard fheis by the then minister for the environment, Martin Cullen, would have seen the establishment of a new entity, separate from An Bord Pleanála, which would also have attempted to limit the scope for taking judicial reviews against planning decisions.
The proposals were dropped last year by Mr Roche, who last May said there was no need to remove responsibility for projects from An Bord Pleanála which he said was now dealing with major projects in a speedy manner. There have also been discussions between officials at the Department of the Environment and the Department of Justice on the possibility of streamlining planning cases through the courts to reduce delays.
Environmental groups have already stated their opposition to fast-track planning procedures, claiming that they were designed to push through infrastructure projects without proper process.