The government has pledged to speed up the approval of major infrastructure projects after criticism from the European Union.
A report by the former Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi, urged the EU to address Europe’s sluggishness with a raft of reforms.
Amongst the alarm bells rung by Draghi was the length of time it takes to approve new wind farms in Ireland which he said was the slowest country in Europe.
“For onshore wind, in most Member States the permitting process lasts around six years. Latvia (with 2 years and 8 months) and Finland (with three years) have the shortest processes. The longest processes were reported in Greece and Ireland with eight and nine years respectively” – Draghi Report
Now the government has pledged to act to speed up projects like these.
“Critical Infrastructure Bill will create a legal obligation for State bodies to recognise and accelerate key projects through planning, licensing, and other consenting stages”, the government has announced.
Options being considered include imposing “statutory timelines” on key projects.
“The Bill will address systemic delays by mandating whole-of-State cooperation and creating a fast-track pathway for nationally significant projects and programmes”, the government says in a new report entitled Accelerating Infrastructure
This is about “matching unprecedented investment in infrastructure with action and delivery”, said Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
“With the growth of our population and economy, we need this response – a comprehensive roadmap of targeted actions to tackle the core barriers to delivery of housing, energy, water, public transport and roads infrastructure.
“This is not just a plan, it’s a practical pathway to improve delivery, strengthen coordination, and ensure that every euro of public investment delivers real, lasting benefits for communities across the country. Success will require all of us to play our part in driving this reform forward.”
Although Ireland was singled out in the Draghi report, the wind industry said the length of time it takes to get wind farms up and running is a Europe-wide problem.
“Slow and cumbersome permitting remains a key hurdle”, says Wind Europe which represents the industry.
But there are some countries showing that it is possible to speed up.
“Germany is showing everyone else how it’s done. They permitted 15 GW of new onshore wind farms in 2024. That’s seven times more than they were permitting five years ago.”
“The report by Mario Draghi on competitiveness in the European Union specifically called out Ireland for having the slowest approval processes for renewable electricity in the EU”, said Minister for Infrastructure, Jack Chambers TD.
“It is difficult to reconcile how the status quo is compatible with the achievement of Ireland’s climate and energy targets, which are amongst the most ambitious in the EU.”
No slash and burn
The planning process is designed to ensure that new projects take into account the views of citizens and the impact on the environment.
Jack Chambers insists that the pressure to speed up will not be to the determent of careful consideration.
“There needs to be a fundamental reappraisal of the balance between the competing pillars of the protection that regulation affords and the timely provision of infrastructure that benefits all of society. I believe that there is a clear need for judicious and targeted deregulation.
This does not mean slashing and burning protections but it does mean taking a cold, hard look at which steps of the regulatory process remain fit for purpose and which ones may trap infrastructure investment in process without purpose. In parallel, there are many steps outlined in this report that can make the application of regulation better coordinated and consequently more efficient.”
He is also determined to tackle the problem of projects grinding to a halt as a result of legal processes.
An “ever-increasing tide of judicial reviews could drown our courts system, paralyse infrastructure development and prevent the effective administration of justice. This can be tackled by addressing the incentives, unique to the Irish legal system, that drive an excess reliance on the courts to adjudicate on planning or regulatory matters”, he said.
It can also be addressed by ensuring that the remedies applied by the courts are fit for purpose.”