George Lawlor: Bill centralises power over critical infrastructure
George Lawlor spoke in the Dail about a government bill that would let the Minister of Public Expenditure designate projects or programmes as critical infrastructure. He warned the change would speed delivery but also centralise decision-making, reduce transparency, and limit public participation.
Overview
George Lawlor set out the bill's purpose and highlighted that the text does not list specific projects. Instead it grants statutory power to ministers to designate projects or programmes as critical infrastructure, shifting delivery toward speed and centralised coordination.
Concerns about transparency and oversight
Lawlor emphasised concerns: pre-legislative scrutiny has been waived, public participation is limited, and agencies risk being overburdened. He warned the bill creates opportunities for political influence over project prioritisation and reduced local accountability.
Local impacts cited
Drawing on constituency examples, Lawlor pointed to long-delayed projects such as the Rosslare to Larne/Motorway connection and the rise in freight through Rosslare since Brexit. He argued that families and landowners have waited decades while development stalled.
Energy and education priorities
Lawlor urged that offshore renewable energy off Rosslare is essential to meet 2030 climate commitments and that education investment, including the Wexford campus for Southeast Technological University, must be progressed rather than sidelined.
Consequences
While Lawlor accepted the principle of speeding critical infrastructure delivery, he concluded the bill risks parochial politics and uneven prioritisation unless safeguards for transparency and public input are strengthened.
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Thank you Cathaoirleach, as we know the purpose of this bill is to allow and the explanatory note says the allowed government to designate specific infrastructure projects or programs that the government considers to be critical the bill does not reference specific projects or programs it provides government with the power to designate projects or programs as critical infrastructure and section 3 provides the government to have the statutory powers to designate a project or project as a critical infrastructure project or program done by yourself in this case the Minister of Public Expenditure and so in practice it does represent a major shift towards speed and centralized coordination in infrastructure delivery but there are certainly major concerns with this bill and given the history of infrastructure in this country and I saw the parochial nature of politics in this country there are certainly many many concerns in terms of the reduction in transparency and we've already seen that pre-legislative scrutiny has been waived a limitation to public participation overburdening of agencies is another issue we've seen that with Mara already that are totally overrun given the amount of regulatory work to be done there it creates opportunities for political influence over project prioritization we as a nation have certainly seen the damage the political influence has caused when it comes to major infrastructural difficulties or projects in my own constituency there's a number of key and critical pieces of infrastructure that simply need to be fast-tracked and have been neglected over the years the oil gate to Rosslare motorway the final piece of the jigsaw from Larne to Rosslare Harbour and Rosslare Harbour or Europort as we know I've seen an increase of 350% increase in freight traffic since Brexit we have families who have been left for you know almost two decades awaiting movement and development on this where their land has been sterilized and stigmatized I've dealt with families who for the want of two yards of land to maybe build a home on their own land have been told sorry this is part of the overall project for the motorway and I've dealt with people whose home and business have been left but yet these critical pieces of infrastructure have been delayed and delayed we see the offshore renewable energy off the coast of Rosslare it's critical if we're to meet our 2030 commitments this you know we if we and this week alone we've seen if we need to break our dependence on fossil fuels that we need offshore renewable energy as part of a critical infrastructure I also believe areas of education we spoke about my colleague from Waterford spoke about the Southeast Technological University we absolutely need the development of the Wexford campus as part of that the money was made available in 2015 to purchase the site and it was only concluded in the last six months I mean people in Wexford the one of the largest counties in Leinster bigger than Waterford bigger than Carlow in terms of population are left behind so we must you know in principle this bill is excellent but it does leave the door open to parochial politics taking place where certain ministers can pick certain projects and leave the rest behind thank you
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