The numbers in the Dáil vote on the Critical Infrastructure Bill last week were what shocked me the most: 132 voted in favour of it and only 15 against. This is the complete opposite of the level of support for the climate law back in 2022 – and for a Bill that can be seen only as a serious attempt to weaken that climate law. The Bill was passed with undue haste and no pre-legislative scrutiny, which explains why it went under the public radar. Although we do need to speed up Ireland’s planning and legal systems, the massive planning law agreed two years ago already provides a way to do just that. The purpose of this new Bill is instead to weaken environmental rights and remove any climate impediment to building new infrastructure, especially the roads that this Government wants to build.

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers was clear in the Dáil debate about wanting to undermine the recent Supreme Court decision in the Coolglass case, which recognised the importance of section 15 of the climate law, requiring a climate assessment of major projects. He was no doubt also mindful of a similar Belfast high court judgment last year, which effectively stalled the A5 Road project. This Bill is designed to work around those two decisions – and thus dilute the climate imperative within our legal code.

Chambers said he wanted to avoid endless legal wrangling but he may have created a worse mess.........

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