The general welcome which attended the recent publication of the £40 billion National Development Plan was, quite rightly, tempered by a healthy scepticism in some quarters about key elements of the documents. It is one thing for the Government to trumpet a package of major infrastructural improvements over the next six years; quite another to bring it to fruition. Recent history would suggest that government has become incapable of delivering these projects within an acceptable timeframe, primarily because of planning delays.
Against this background, the recommendation by a team of key civil servants that a constitutional amendment may be required to ensure that "infrastructural projects are completed speedily without unnecessary legal and other obstacles" is sensible and well-judged.
The Government, in fairness, appears to have anticipated the planning difficulties in advance of publishing the national plan. In June, it established a Cabinet Committee on Infrastructual Development augmented by an inter-departmental committee of senior officials who would oversee implementation of a framework for action. Their proposals, reported in today's editions, underline the planning, legal and other obstacles which inhibit and delay infrastuctural development.
The continuing delays in delivering major projects like the Dublin Port Tunnel and in completing the so-called C-ring motorway system around the city underlines how the needs of the community can take second place to the concerns and objections of individuals. It is, of course, the case that each citizen has a democratic right to object to proposals which will undermine his or her quality of life of that of their community. But the practical challenge facing policy-makers is to find an acceptable balance between the constitutional rights to property and the pressing needs of society. The fact that the budget for national roads for the period 2000-2006 is more than three times greater than for the 1994-1999 National Plan highlights the enormity of the task.
To its credit, the Government appears to be assembling a package of measures which could provide a more sensible and a more realistic planning environment. The Planning Bill now before the Dail contains proposals to fast-track the appeal process at an Bord Pleanala level for major public developments. The Government is also considering the establishment of a new division of the High Court to expedite planning decisions. A constitutional amendment of the type mooted by the committee should also form an integral part of this package. Otherwise, the bold vision of the National Development Plan - so essential for this State's continued economic growth and regional development - will remain on the drawing board.