Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has today unveiled his proposals to create a new division of An Bord Pleanála that will deal with major infrastructural projects.
The Strategic Infrastructure Bill is aimed at speeding up the consent process for major infrastructure projects of national importance.
Mr Roche said today he was announcing the changes to "bring about a greater efficiency in the provision of infrastructure.
"Every unnecessary delay in infrastructure development results in costs increases . . . cost increases which more often than not have to be met by the taxpayer," Mr Roche said.
Under the Bill, responsibility for deciding on approvals of railway orders, including light rail and metros will be transferred from the Minister for Transport to An Bord Pleanála.
The Bill also proposes to deal with other issues including rogue developers, the rights of environmental NGOs to access the courts as provided for in the Aarhus Convention and compensation for sub-surface lands.
Developers responsible for unfinished housing estates can be refused planning permission on the grounds of past history. The developer will then have to apply to the High Court for the decision to be overturned, reversing the burden of proof from the planning authority to the applicant.
Subsurface land 10 metres or more below the surface will have no value unless a person can show that the land is more valuable to them. Minister Roche said he introduced this provision due to subsurface development becoming an increasing fact of life.
Last year, the Government abandoned plans for a separate fast-track planning authority for major road and infrastructure projects, opting instead for major reform of An Bord Pleanála.
The Government pledged in 2003 to create a new fast-track process following delays to major road and infrastructure projects that were, in part, blamed on the planning process.
But, criticising the new Bill, the Labour Party said it would not bring forward "a single project by a single day" and would damage the planning process.
"It will, however, greatly limit the right of the public and of local communities to voice their concerns over major developments. It will also irreparably compromise the independent nature of An Bord Pleanála," said the party's environment spokesman, Eamon Gilmore.
However, Mr Roche described the criticism that the Bill would jeopardise the public rights as "bizarre" and said "nothing could be further from the truth".
Mr Gilmore also said it was an "urban myth" promoted by the Government that long delays in the provision of essential infrastructure were due to planning objections by the public.
"Most of the delays in providing infrastructure are to due to delays in decision making at Cabinet level, design, land acquisition and bad management by Government. For example the country's lamentable provision of broadband has nothing to do with planning."
Mr Gilmore said Labour had recommended the creation of a separate division of the High Court to deal with planning issues.
The Green Party accused the Government of undermining local democracy and said the Bill would do little to speed up major projects and would "dramatically curtail the public's participation in the planning process".
Green Party environment spokesman Ciarán Cuffe said the Bill was an "attack on local democracy" and would do little to speed up the planning process.
"The main planning delays to major projects are due to High Court challenges and poor quality applications in the first instance. The Bill does nothing to remedy these failings," he said.
"The Bill will allow controversial developments such as gas refineries, port land reclamation and incinerators to bypass local government. The views of local authority staff, councillors and the public will be sidelined."