Nine large infrastructure projects, including MetroLink and the Galway ring road, have been designated as ‘critical’ and will be fast-tracked under new legislation.

The projects have been given priority status, giving developers faster processing and decision-making powers under the recently passed Critical Infrastructure Act.

This label will mandate state agencies, local authorities, and other bodies to give priority to the projects, and developers will be given the ability to bypass some environmental laws.

On The Hard Shoulder, Sean O’Driscoll, businessman and member of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce, said he welcomed the announcement of the list and that Ireland’s progress in infrastructure delivery was “remarkable.”

The Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce, which has “an oversight role… to ensure delivery and implementation”, have met all of the objectives scheduled in their infrastructure action plan so far this year.

Mr. O’Driscoll said he was confident that all objectives of the 30-point action plan would be completed by the summer of 2027.

Environmental concerns are “nonsense”

Asked about criticism for the Bill from Friends of the Earth and the Green Party on environmental grounds, Mr. O’Driscoll said these objections were “nonsense.”

Accepting that “we’ve got to do what’s right for our environment,” Mr. O’Driscoll said that environmental legislation is being “weaponized” against the state and Irish citizens.

Pushing back, he said that the Bill will deliver the public transport infrastructure which environmentalists are calling for.

'Government should be more ambitious'

Also speaking on The Hard Shoulder, was Brian Caufield, Professor in Transport in the School of Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, who said that all of the projects announced were needed.

However, Prof. Caufield noted that there is no up-to-date transport strategy in areas like Galway, and therefore “we don't know what the real environmental impacts will be.”

Because of this, he said the Galway ring road being included on the infrastructure list was “premature.”

Prof. Caufield said the Government could have been more ambitious in deciding which projects to include, noting the Lucan Luas line’s omission, and called for more radical thinking from Government.