Ireland 2040: ‘Repackaging’ of 179 projects a marketing ploy

The opposition has branded the Government’s Project Ireland 2040 plan as little more than a “marketing exercise” for 179 “repackaged” projects that is simply designed to bulletproof the coalition from any general election backlash.

Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Labour and other opposition parties hit out at the plan after it was published in Sligo yesterday, saying the document is long on promises but short on detail.

Responding to the Government’s €116bn two-decade plan, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said “this is a very cynical exercise from what I can see”, and that the project is effectively about the launch of the Government’s “next election manifesto” at the taxpayer’s expense.

Noting that his own party believes at least 179 of the Ireland Project 2040 initiatives have already been announced, including €40bn of the €116bn, Mr Martin said “there is the element of the political wheeze in this, so you’ll forgive me for being a bit cynical”.

Mr Martin’s view was supported by his party’s public expenditure spokesman Dara Calleary, who said high-profile promises such as a second Dublin airport runway and the Metro Link “were already included in the previous capital plan”.

Finance spokesman Michael McGrath said the promises “may be overtaken” by economic events over the next two decades.

While all parties accept there is merit in planning for the future, Sinn Féin was critical of apparent plan gaps, the party’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin and health spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly questioning if promises will be delivered on.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin and deputy leader Alan Kelly said the plan is open to potential legal action because the Government’s attempt to put it on a statutory footing is taking place before the relevant law is passed by the Oireachtas.

Similarly, party colleague and housing spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said despite the plan being “three years in the making with two sets of public consultation and numerous submissions”, the reality is that “instead of a coherent plan for the future, we get another cock-up”.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said “a lot of old projects have been re-hashed and brought forward” again by Government for political reasons, noting that controversial changes have been made. “The earlier drafts were on the right track.

“However, the loosening of restrictions on one-off housing will see up to 60% of future housing development outside villages, towns, and cities. This, without real, tangible plans for public transport, is a recipe for further sprawl and traffic chaos. The last-minute watering-down of proposals to concentrate development could undermine the whole plan.”

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy expressed doubt over whether the plan involves any real “joined-up thinking”.