Frankie Feighan
Sligo-Leitrim · Fine Gael · Ireland
“Among patients reviewed after 12 months of treatment, there was an 88% reduction in episodes of cellulitis, an 80% reduction in hospitalisations associated with cellulitis, significant reductions in GP and public health nurse visits, and reduced demand on both acute and community services.”
“This will deliver an additional 263 positions to the service and will particularly help to support capacity building in our front-line emergency services.”
“I thank the Senator for raising this important matter in the House. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I am aware of the issues raised by the Senator. He will appreciate that neither I nor the HSE can comment on any individual case.”
“I can confirm to the Seanad that we are currently progressing development of a third HEMS to serve the west and north west regions, including the mid-west, and planning for the new HEMS is well advanced.”
“In my opening statement, I focused mainly on aeromedical services in Ireland, particularly the helicopter emergency medical resourcing, HEMS, to provide access to emergency patient care for the people of the mid-west region, including west Clare.”
“On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, I thank Senator Conway for the opportunity to update the House on the delivery of aeromedical services for the people of west Clare and the surrounding area.”
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“We got £20,000 at the time. That made a huge difference to our football club, which has gone from strength to strength ever since. We have seen over the years how this has evolved. I also like to gamble as well sometimes, between doing the lotto and going into bookies' shops. I see how important this has been for bookies' shops, but I would like to think the money that people spend on the lotto comes back to the State, and I think the Senator made a very strong argument in that regard. The issue of betting on the national lottery through private bookmakers is a matter for the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, GRAI. The latter was established by legislation, as the Senator said, as recently as 2024. It is intended and expected to bring greater oversight and scrutiny to the gambling sector in Ireland.”
“I want to address the issue raised by Senator Fitzpatrick regarding the current practice of lottery betting as a betting activity. It is great to be back in the Seanad again. I thank the Senator for the articulate, informative and measured way that she put across this argument. I have a kind of an interest in this because in 1985 I worked in Australia and I saw how the lotto worked there and how it provided lots of funding for sport and health and when the lottery opened up here in Ireland, as a newsagent I applied for a lotto licence, which certainly benefited us. I was secretary of Boyle Celtic at the time, and we were the first or second club to apply for sports grants. I remember coming up here in 1987. There was a Fianna Fáil-led Government of which, I think, the late Seán Doherty and the former Minister Frank Fahey were members.”
“There are clear signals that directive 2014/24/EU will be repealed and, as I said, a less restrictive regime will be put in place. As such, the legal basis for several of these provisions would no longer apply. For these reasons, the Government opposes the Bill. I thank all the contributors for their helpful advice. I look forward to liaising and working with them in the coming weeks and months.”
“The Bill cannot help but contradict the Government's commitment to supporting Irish enterprise, in particular SMEs and small family businesses, because it has the potential to compromise value for money, particularly for standardised and commodotised goods and services, adding undue weight to quality and adding undue burdens for SMEs, potentially reducing the number of bidders and overlooking the fact that quality may also be addressed in selection criteria and technical specifications. Work that will impact reporting requirements, e-forms and the public procurement data project is already under way in the European Commission, as is the revision of public procurement directives. Therefore, the Bill may also introduce conflicts with the current EU legislative framework.”
“This would cancel out the €10 billion equity funding to which the Government has committed, with major energy, water and transport projects. As mentioned, the proportion of price-only awards in Ireland halved from 2020 to 2022, falling from 24% to 12% in 2023. As of 2025, Ireland is third in the European Union for the lowest use of price-only award criteria.”
“We all agree that the State should act in the public interest. The intentions behind the Bill for the pursuit of quality as much as price are laudable. However, the Bill would likely have a negative impact on the ability of the State to seek value for money or deliver on the Minister's accelerating infrastructure report and action plan commitments. It introduces inflexibility in the selection of appropriate criteria for a given competition and potential disproportionality in legislating for the fixed weighting of cost in assessing tenders, notwithstanding its inconsistency with the directives. As the Deputy rightly stated, an evaluation of the cost increase associated with civil procedures in the Netherlands was estimated at 3%. Applying the metric to the national development plan would result in an increase of over €10 billion.”
“I thank everyone for their contribution. Some issues were raised and I will certainly bring them back to my Department. The Bill pre-empts the European Commission’s revision of the 2014 directive. Therefore, it seems the entire Bill is premature. The Commission is in the process of reviewing the public procurement directives. There are clear signals that EU Directive No. 2014/24 will be repealed and a less restrictive regime will be put in place. As such, the legal basis for several of these provisions will no longer apply. After careful consideration, the Government has decided to oppose the Bill because it could undermine the current ambition, which is delivering the critical infrastructure that Ireland needs and ensuring value for money for Irish taxpayers. I again thank the speakers who contributed.”
“Officials from my Department have engaged in this evaluation process at all levels and have facilitated the process through stakeholder workshops, targeted consultation and direct engagement at Commission level to best represent Ireland’s interests.”
“The Bill contradicts the Government’s commitment to support Irish enterprises, in particular SMEs and small family businesses, because it has the potential to compromise value for money, particularly for standardised and commodified goods and services, adding undue weight to quality, adding undue burdens for SMEs, potentially reducing the numbers of bidders, and overlooking that quality may also be addressed in selection criteria and technical specifications. The European Commission’s focus regarding procurement is on the simplification of the current complex legal code and a reorientation of procurement to act as tool for steering investment and increasing competitiveness. In seeking to deliver this, it began an evaluation of the procurement directives in December 2024.”
“This included three roadshows in Dublin, Cork and Athlone, which were attended by a variety of stakeholders, including public bodies, industry bodies, utility suppliers, social enterprises and a dedicated supplier and SME webinar. Senator Alice Mary Higgins, this Bill’s author, was supportive of and engaged with the consultation for the strategy. The strategy is a more appropriate policy instrument to progress the well-intentioned objectives in the Bill. As mentioned, the programme for Government seeks to ensure greater participation from SMEs in public procurement through the SME advisory group, which I chair and which meets quarterly. My Department engages directly with SME representative bodies.”
“Complementary to and supporting the work on accelerating infrastructure, a key priority for the Department is the programme for Government commitment to value for money in State spending and to review the public procurement process to make it more transparent and work to ensure greater participation from SMEs in Ireland. The Department is in the final stage of drafting the national public procurement strategy to set out the strategic direction of public procurement for the next five years. A key focus of the strategy is advancing socially responsible public procurement, supporting sustainable public procurement and the UN sustainable development goals. A public consultation for the strategy was launched in March 2025 and ran until May 2025.”
“It should also be noted that Ireland scores highly among EU member states in the use of price-quality ratio. In the last round of reporting available, the European Commission’s Single Market and competitiveness scorecard 2025 shows that in Ireland the proportion of price-only awards halved from 2020 to 2022, falling from 24% to 12%. Ireland had the third-lowest incidence of price-only awards. As noted, this figure of 12% includes those awards for which quality was assessed at an earlier stage. Therefore, the Bill would introduce complications and barriers to infrastructure delivery for a problem which does not really exist in Ireland, and in respect of which improvements are already happening.”
“This is also true for construction projects, where quality is largely achieved through good design and specification before the procurement process and in the subsequent contract management. The Government has used policy circulars and guidance on these matters to recognise the need for flexibility and the specific circumstances of each individual procurement. While quality must be afforded due consideration in tendering processes, this must be done in the context of available budgets and in a proportionate manner. It has to be acknowledged that public procurement facilitates the State to be in a position to provide much-needed public services in a sustainable manner, and reducing the public buyers’ choices for assessing tenders could impact on the sustainability of such service provision.”
“Reports to the Minister on the contracting authority's performance on these matters will also be required, with the Minister given the role of designating appropriate forms for such returns. There do not appear to be any restrictions in the procurement directives to prevent obligations of this nature being imposed on contracting authorities. Further, it is noted this would be a clear, unambiguous obligation imposed by primary legislation. Additionally, mandating how a contracting authority should conduct a procurement process should be avoided, especially via as blunt an instrument as primary legislation. Contracting authorities need to be free to decide the best process for them, and any legislation should facilitate that.”
“Recital 89 of EU Directive 2014/24 states: This can be obtained by using the terminology ‘most economically advantageous tender’ as the overriding concept since all winning tenders should finally be chosen in accordance with what the individual contracting authority considers to be the economically best solution among those offered... Regarding implications arising from imposing additional reporting obligations on contracting authorities related to their function as public bodies pursuant to section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, contracting authorities will be required to record steps taken to comply with section 42 of the Act. In particular, information relating to the preparation, allocation and granting of contracts will need to be included in the Article 84 report.”
“The Office of the Attorney General advises that the use of a limit on the price criterion would need careful consideration in order to demonstrate that it remains within the MEAT criteria. As stated above, EU directive 2014/24 expressly permits member states to restrict the use of price to certain categories of contracts or prohibit the use of price or cost only as the sole award criterion for public contracts. However, in contrast, the directives do not expressly permit member states to specify a target quality ratio for specified projects. Recital 89 of EU Directive 2014/24 might also be seen as against permitting this proposal. These recitals emphasise the freedom of the contracting authority to select the economically best tender.”
“The Bill proposes contracting authorities award on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender rather than price only, unless sanctioned by a Minister or Accounting Officer. While I appreciate the concerns surrounding the use of price-only in procurement processes, such a provision would be disproportionate and add to the administrative burden of buying generic commonly acquired goods and services. The European procurement directives and their transposing national instruments already permit public sector bodies to prohibit the award of contracts on the basis of price or cost only and restrict the use of price-only to certain categories of contract. The Bill misrepresents the procurement landscape. Many price-only awards are the second part of a two-stage award process, where the first stage has been an assessment of quality.”
“It introduces inflexibility in the selection of appropriate criteria for a given competition and potential disproportionality in legislating for the fixed weighting of cost in assessing tenders. Additionally, and following on foot of advice from the Office of the Attorney General, the Bill contains several provisions which would be likely to increase the risk of litigation. This would significantly lengthen the procurement process and delay the delivery of critical infrastructure. This goes against the Government’s work to overcome barriers to infrastructure delivery by putting in place further barriers and strengthening the opportunities for legal challenges, which will likely increase costs to the taxpayer.”
“Further amendments will be introduced later this year to support increases in construction sector capacity and innovation. This will be through the adoption of modern methods of construction, design contests and early collaboration. The overly adversarial nature of procurement, driven by risk transfer objectives, poses challenges to delivery. Therefore, further changes will be made to support a more collaborative approach with tenderers, involving alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and changes to the inflation framework, with the longer-term objective of a greater sharing of risk. It is essential the public service operates in a co-ordinated and effective way and delivers value-for-money and sustainable savings for taxpayers. This Bill contains several provisions that will hinder delivery of the action plan.”
“It will also build the capacity of the construction sector and enable better sequencing of major projects, ensuring that infrastructure is delivered on time, within budget and with minimal disruption. Procurement challenges are one of the key barriers the plan identifies, with lengthy timelines and complicated processes hindering our ability to deliver value for money and making procurement less competitive. Action 25 seeks to address these barriers through changes in the capital works management framework, CWMF, and improved procurement standardisation, professionalism, centralisation and training. Considerable amendments to the CWMF have been introduced to increase flexibility, including price variation, limitation of liability and indexation for inflation.”
“The European Commission is in the process of reviewing the public procurement directives underpinning this Bill and there are clear signals that Directive 2014/24/EU will be repealed and a less restrictive regime put in place. As such, the legal base for the Bill would no longer apply. I will now expand further on the Government’s immediate priority, namely, delivering the critical infrastructure that we need to resolve the housing crisis. Since the Bill was put on the Order Paper, Government approved the accelerating infrastructure report and action plan. Pillar 3 of the plan, co-ordination and delivery of reform, introduces a new central co-ordination role for the Department, as envisaged by the programme for Government, and features reforms to procurement and approvals that will more effectively convert funding into outcomes.”
“The Bill being proposed is similar to a scheme introduced previously in the Netherlands which reportedly increased costs by approximately 3%. Applying this to the delivery of the NDP could potentially increase costs to the taxpayer by up to €10 billion. The Bill further complicates the procurement process. It introduces inflexibility in the selection of appropriate criteria for a given competition, which has the potential to compromise value for money, particularly for standardised goods and services where it might not be needed. The Bill is also expected to create delays, given the increased risk of litigation that results from the reliance on subjective social criteria.”
“This would require the Minister to issue guidelines on qualitative, environmental, social, human rights and equality considerations that may arise in public contracts and create a system of reporting to the Houses of the Oireachtas. I will now set out the reasons behind the Government's concerns relating to what the Bill seeks to do. The Government is undertaking an ambitious programme of reform and accelerating infrastructure with a committed spend of €275 billion on the national development plan, NDP. The associated projects in the NDP already factor quality into their tenders as determined by detailed specifications and ongoing contract management. Therefore, the current approach seeks to ensure quality while keeping value for money as paramount in the delivery of the NDP and does not require additional regulation.”
“The Government is seeking to reduce those barriers and streamline procurement processes so projects can be delivered effectively in this country. With the current set of rules in place, according to the European scorecard 2025, Ireland is in the top three for use of price-quality ratio, with only 12% awarded on price only. The remaining 88% of tenders are awarded based on quality criteria. The Bill seeks to give further effect to Directive 2014/24/EU on public sector contracts to promote the use of social considerations and the best price-quality ratio, in relation to procurements to which the directive applies, prohibiting the award of contracts on price or cost as the sole award criterion unless the Minister makes a declaration that it is appropriate.”
“I thank the Deputies for giving me the opportunity to discuss the Government's position on the Second Stage of this Private Members' Bill. The Bill, brought forward by Senator Higgins and Deputy Gibney, is well intentioned. However, the priority for this Government is delivering the critical infrastructure that Ireland needs while ensuring value for money for Irish taxpayers, which this Bill could hinder and not help in delivering. The Government has concerns regarding the Bill's potential impact on the ability of the State to seek value for money in providing critical infrastructure and that it would increase the level of bureaucracy and complication in the public tendering process, ultimately creating additional regulatory burdens with little to no benefit in terms of outcomes.”
“This issue has been brought to Senator Byrne by local councillors on the ground who listen to their constituents. I think we agree this target scheme provides critical support to some of the most vulnerable households in the country. As the Senator has rightly said, maybe the people who are providing the service need to be upskilled or retrained on how to deliver it. I am not saying they are not doing their job, but sometimes we probably need to put more pressure on them to liaise even more perfectly with their customers. I again thank the Senator.”
“I thank the Senator for bringing this important issue to the floor of the Seanad, which is where it really should be discussed. While I am here, I must say I have fond memories of my times in the Seanad, first from 2002 to 2007 and then from 2016 to 2020.”
“Each energy supplier has their own arrangements with the SEAI on when they will proceed with installation as this is dependent on the suppliers’ individual solar PV installers and their capacity and location. I thank the Senator for her views and I will bring them back to the Minister.”
“The extension was committed to by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, arising from the first report of the national energy affordability task force. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, suppliers’ handbook requires suppliers to establish and maintain their own vulnerable customer registers and ensure vulnerable customer data is forwarded to ESB Networks for inclusion on the industry register. Suppliers are also required by the CRU to take reasonable steps to identify customers at sign-up who are eligible to register as vulnerable customers. Most energy suppliers have agreed to participate in the scheme, with some suppliers more advanced in their programme than others.”
“A total of 473 systems were installed last year, with expenditure of €2.4 million. I am glad to report that this year will see a major expansion of delivery, with an allocation of €11.7 million expected to support over 1,900 homes. Initially, the scheme was limited to individuals who were in the life support category of the priority services register in 2022, when the scheme was launched. However, due to the strong uptake and the positive impact already observed, the scheme is now being extended to include all homeowners who are registered under the life support category of the priority services register, regardless of when they were registered. This will open up the scheme to a wider cohort.”
“Reliance on this equipment can result in such households having higher energy demand than the average user and this scheme is designed to go some way towards helping to reduce these energy costs. The scheme provides a fully funded 2kWp solar PV system for eligible households. This includes survey and design, supply, installation, and the post-works BER. The scheme is wholly managed by the registered energy suppliers, with each of the suppliers contacting their own eligible customers directly, in line with the work plans for their solar PV installers. Offers are issued to households in batches. The scheme was launched in 2022, with an overall budget allocation of €20 million. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, reports that 137 systems were installed in 2024, with expenditure of €1.78 million.”
“In advance of the publication of the national planning statement, in January 2026 the Department issued Circular SPI 01/2026 on short-term letting and the planning system to clarify the current legislative and policy framework for the regulation of the short-term letting of houses, apartments and other residential accommodation in the planning system.”
“The Department is working to give effect to the commitments contained in Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030. I will ask the Minister to follow up on the statute bar and on whether the cap will be moved from 10,000 to 20,000. This is information I do not have but I will speak to the Minister. The publication of the short-term letting and tourism Bill by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which will introduce a register of short-term lets whereby hosts will be required to declare compliance with planning requirements, and the development of the national planning statement on short-term letting, will assist with the regulation of short-term lettings sector.”
“I thank Senator Conway for giving me the opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, on planning requirements for short-term lettings. I thank Senator Conway for articulating the concerns raised with him. It was a powerful intervention. Action 7.16 of Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030 states that the Government will introduce increased regulation of the short-term letting sector by introducing a short-term letting and tourism Bill and that a national planning statement will provide guidance for local authorities when deciding on planning applications for short-term lets.”
“However, on this occasion, there are issues for the local authority, obviously. It has not been able to address this issue. I thank Deputy McGrath again for bringing this to the attention of the Dáil. I will raise it with the Minister when I see him later.”
“Further information will be available in the coming weeks. It will be a matter for all local authorities, including Tipperary County Council, to identify viable proposals. The Government does not intend to override these important local functions. As I said, it is unfortunate that some incomplete developments need to be demolished but in the case of this particular development in Tipperary, demolition of these unfinished units is deemed necessary by the local authority given they are in private ownership and not suitable for long-term residential use. The Deputy outlined that a lot of houses and apartments were built as part of hotel developments around the country. A lot of them are not in use. Anything that we and the local authorities can do to bring them back into use is useful and helpful.”
“I thank Deputy McGrath for his useful information. I will bring it back to the Minister. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is focused on ensuring that existing houses are utilised to their full extent. The Government’s new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, reinforces and expands the range of measures being implemented by the Government to work to end dereliction and long-term vacancy. One of these actions involves an expanded buy and renew scheme, which is due to launch imminently. The Minister, Deputy Browne, updated the Government on Tuesday about the scheme. It will allow for suitable vacant and derelict buildings to be remediated back to rental standards and designated as social homes. The scheme will be open to local authorities, approved housing bodies and small builders or contractors.”
“I firmly believe the commitment Government has made to address vacancy and dereliction and the actions under Delivering Homes, Building Communities will play a vital role in delivering homes across the country. Notwithstanding that, effective use of Exchequer funding is essential and only viable projects should proceed. It is unfortunate, as the Deputy has raised, that some incomplete developments need to be demolished but, in this case, demolition of these unfinished units is necessary given they are in private ownership and not suitable for long-term residential use. I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this important issue and I hope this goes some way to explaining the rationale behind this decision.”
“The extent of work required to meet modern residential standards would be prohibitive and likely necessitate full demolition and reconstruction. I understand the council is currently progressing a Part 8 planning application to remove the derelict structures as part of the agreed remediation approach. The future development of the land after that remediation is complete rests entirely with the owners. Any proposals will be subject to the county development plan and the statutory planning process. Tipperary County Council’s social housing delivery under Housing for All was ahead of target and it is expected to continue its strong record of delivery under the housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities.”
“In respect of the property referenced above, neither the derelict units in question nor the site they were built on are owned by Tipperary County Council. The units were constructed over 20 years ago as tourism accommodation ancillary to a permitted hotel. They were not designed, permitted or ever intended for permanent residential use and they have remained incomplete for almost 20 years. The land in question is unzoned, poorly serviced and located outside the settlement boundary of Cashel. Were it deemed suitable for long-term social housing development, the local authority may have considered a compulsory purchase order, CPO. However, there is no viable option to adapt the existing structures for residential use.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am glad to have the opportunity on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, to clarify the position regarding the demolition of these partially completed houses at Ballypadeen, Cashel in Tipperary. The Minister sends his apologies. He will be in the House for five hours for the debate on the residential tenancies Bill and cannot attend this morning. Working to end dereliction and vacancy is a key priority in the Government's new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities. The programme for Government and the housing plan contain a range of measures to address dereliction. However, the reality is that some unfinished units cannot be saved and require demolition.”
“I thank Deputies for their insightful participation in today's discussions on infrastructure and I look forward to more questions in the coming weeks and months.”
“This proposed scheme was refused under the Arterial Drainage Act in March 2022 on the basis of advice from independent environmental consultants, because of the adverse environmental impact of the scheme. I think it was the Taoiseach who said today that we need to protect people and property more sometimes. We have the environmental aspects as well, but we need to balance them in the right way. The social infrastructure is committed for delivery, but it can only be done with the delivery of water, transport and electricity infrastructure. They are constituency projects and I appreciate their importance because I am from a constituency, but we have to have Government co-ordination.”
“Judicial reviews remain fully available and all EU-derived environmental safeguards remain intact. The suggestion that the number of judicial reviews is falling is not supported by any official data. The Courts Service report for 2024 stated that 241 new cases entered the planning and environmental list and it has now confirmed that 171 new judicial review proceedings commenced in 2025, out of a total 197 matters, with only 26 relating to non-judicial review applications. The reform agenda builds on the levels of State investment. There are discussions about flooding. As a result, 56 flood relief schemes have now been completed, protecting 30,580 properties. However, I agree that the devastation caused by the flooding has been worrying. We also have the Enniscorthy flood relief scheme.”
“Senior officials have been appointed, a newly composed infrastructure division has been confirmed and timelines and responsibilities for actions and sub-measures have been submitted. The task force will continue to meet regularly to support the delivery of the plan. As outlined by my colleague the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and reaffirmed here, while we have work to do, we have a clear programme of work to effect change, and we will continue to do everything in our power to increase the capacity to deliver the infrastructure needed for a modern and progressive society. It is simply incorrect to claim judicial review reform is anti-democratic or designed to limit access to the courts. Nothing in the Government's approach removes or restricts the constitutional right to challenge decisions.”
“There is clear responsibility for each action and defined measures of success and accountability. Each action will have direct impact but, more importantly, is part of a considered and comprehensive strategic programme of reform. The total impact of the actions will be greater than the sum of the actions individually. Since the publication of the actions report in December, officials in the Department have moved at pace to implement the changes identified and fundamentally shift the ecosystem underpinning Ireland’s infrastructure delivery to support Ireland’s competitiveness, deliver transport, water and energy services fit for the purposes of our growing country and, crucially, to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030.”
“On top of this, the new infrastructure division in our Department will take on a proactive oversight and monitoring role, assessing delivery of the action plan and identifying any barriers to impact. The fourth pillar in the actions report focuses on public acceptance and civic engagement. Our ability to deliver on the critically needed infrastructure rests on societal support. The work under this pillar will focus on building public trust, accountability and improving public engagement processes. While infrastructure projects will be disruptive to some, they will benefit many and this pillar will build and support this mindset. Each of the actions that will be undertaken are clearly linked back to the barriers identified, accompanied by clear deadlines for implementation and with the majority focused in 2026.”
“The second pillar focused on regulatory reform with a view to simplifying and standardising processes so that approvals run in parallel, where possible, aligning procedures across agencies, removing duplication and creating processes with predictable timelines and outcomes. The third pillar is the reform of co-ordination and delivery within and across government, and with the construction sector. Alongside the publication of the NDP review, the departmental sectoral plans provide multi-annual funding certainty and outline a strong and clear pipeline of projects. This is a demonstrable commitment by the Government to the construction sector that gives predictability and supports the sector to invest in the capacity, skills and resources needed to meet the demand.”
“These were: to accelerate delivery of critical infrastructure, particularly in the electricity, water, and transport sectors; to accelerate the delivery of all infrastructure by simplifying and streamlining the regulatory and consenting processes for infrastructure in general; to reduce delays caused by judicial reviews, regulatory complexity and fragmented approvals; to enhance co-ordination across government, utilities and local authorities; and to build public and political support for infrastructure projects. The report set out 30 targeted actions across four strategic pillars to deliver on these objectives. The first pillar is legal reform designed to tackle excessive complexity in the regulatory and infrastructure environment at source without compromising on environmental standards, individual rights or good governance.”
“The first, in July of last year, which followed a considerable process of external consultation and engagement, outlined the barriers to infrastructure delivery across the country and noted the regulatory environment, the planning and legal systems, drawing particular attention to the judicial review process, and internal systems across the public service and Civil Service, including fragmented governance, procurement challenges and capacity constraints. This initial barriers report was followed by the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan published in December. This report outlined five key objectives.”