Brennan bid to fast-track roads projects in new Bill

TRANSPORT Minister Séamus Brennan is to fast-track the building of major roads, rail and metro lines to cut costs in a controversial new Bill that is likely to be tested in the courts.

The minister said he was going to tackle the obstacles causing major delays in projects and leading to serious escalation in costs. "Time is money when it comes to big projects I want to reduce the timeframe between the moment the decision is made to the turning of the sod," he said.

Mr Brennan made the announcement following the official opening of the €44 million Youghal bypass in Co Cork. The N25 bypass will greatly improve road access from Cork to Waterford and Rosslare Port and remove 10,000 cars from Youghal town. But projects like this, which got the go-ahead more than five years ago, are still not completed because they are tied up in wrangles over property compensation. Mr Brennan plans to tackle the delays by:

Banning the rezoning of land along major motorway routes.

Increasing powers of State agencies to purchase land.

Speeding up the appeals process.

Ending property rights 10 metres underground.

Responding to the revelation that Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy had warned him to cut back on spending, Mr Brennan said every minister had received the same warning.

"This is a Kildare way of saying 'go easy on the money' nothing more," Mr Brennan added.

The transport minister plans to bring in a Critical Infrastructure Bill that will give the State the powers to purchase land and fast-track the appeals procedure if the project is deemed to be in the common good.

Mr Brennan knows that the constitutionality of such a change in property rights would most likely be challenged in the courts. That is why he will ask the Supreme Court to test the Bill constitutionally before he brings it to the Dáil to minimise possible legal challenges afterwards.

The minister is also moving to ban the rezoning of land along major motorways following the experience of Loughrea bypass.

This saw land along a planned motorway being rezoned for commercial use, substantially increasing the potential compensation costs to the Exchequer.

A reversal of that rezoning decision by the local council saved the Exchequer millions, but Mr Brennan now plans to change the law to ensure this does not happen again.

He plans to speed up the compulsory purchase order procedure. Anyone not happy with the compensation offer will have the option to a special arbitrator, who will make a decision within three months.

Ending property rights 10 metres underground would have huge implications for the planned Metro line from Dublin city to the airport and drastically reduce the State's compensation bill.

Mr Brennan said the Government will provide €1.2 billion for national road improvements this year three times the level of funding four years ago.

The €44 million Youghal bypass will greatly help the industrial development and help the East Cork town fulfil its huge tourism potential, the minister said.