CPO powers to be transferred solely to An Coimisiún Pleanála

Compulsory purchase orders reform comes as minister says 'minor technical issues are being weaponised by certain individuals to block infrastructure delivery'

Minister for public expenditure Jack Chambers will publish the report of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce later this week. Picture: Damien Eagers/PA

Compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers are set to be transferred solely to An Coimisiún Pleanála, as part of a major shakeup in infrastructure delivery.

New plans include the ability for central Government to withhold funding to departments or state agencies if they fail to make land available for delivering water, energy and transport projects.

Public expenditure minister Jack Chambers confirmed the changes were coming, as he prepares to publish the report of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce later this week.

The report itself contains 30 recommendations with measures to speed up infrastructure delivery across the country.

Proposals include the moving of CPO powers exclusively to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Mr Chambers said he believed that doing so would “save significant time” in infrastructure delivery.

On departments and agencies having their funding withheld, Mr Chambers said there had been multiple examples where there has not been co-ordination over public land.

“As minister for public expenditure, I provide sanction on spending,” Mr Chambers said.

“As far as I’m concerned any agency or department that withholds land, which is required for critical infrastructure, they’ll have a change to their sanction. That will have to be advanced as a means to force co-operation,” he told RTÉ’s This Week.

Mr Chambers said the Government would be developing a Critical Infrastructure Bill next year to speed projects through the planning process, as well as developing emergency powers.

These emergency powers will “go to the edge of what’s legally and constitutionally possible to rebalance rights in the Irish economy”.

The public expenditure minister said the economy needed to be future proofed into the 30s and 40s, adding this required “targeted deregulation” in areas and a “much greater simplification of procedures”. Mr Chambers said: 

What’s happening is we’ve got a fragmented nature of processes and systems and red tape where minor technical issues are being weaponised by certain individuals to block infrastructure delivery. 

“Essentially, no residents association should supercede the public good and the common good. If that was the case, we would have never build Ardnacrusha.”

Mr Chambers said the risk aversion in the Irish economy is “excessive”, saying the Government wanted to increase the risk appetite to back decision makers.

“It’ll be a real change in how the State functions to prioritise delivery over the next number of years, to really build momentum,” he said.

He also highlighted the ‘gold-plating’ of EU regulations, saying there would be a move to simplify this at an Irish level, while also supporting EU simplification efforts.

Tourism policy 

Meanwhile, the Government will unveil its new national tourism policy on Monday, at a launch in Mullingar.

It is understood the plan will contain a significant focus on Irish food, with the creation of a new national culinary strategy.

It will also contain a focus on developing tourism in areas which it has been traditionally underdeveloped, such as the midlands and other non-coastal counties.

The plan will also contain key performance indicators and targets for the tourism sector to hit over the next five years, including on revenue growth and employment. This focus comes as the responsibility for tourism has moved into the Department of Enterprise.