MINISTER FOR PUBLIC expenditure Jack Chambers has said that a key part of Ireland’s climate law has to be circumvented because it has been “weaponised” by NGOs and advocates to halt major infrastructure projects. 

Chambers was fielding questions from the media at Government Buildings today after announcing nine infrastructure projects that will be expedited under the Critical Infrastructure Act, which was passed earlier this year. 

Asked about criticism from the environmental advocacy group Friends of The Earth, who have said that disapplying Section 15 of the Climate Act sets “an alarming precedent”, Chambers said the law has been “weaponised” to stall major projects. 

Section 15 of the act requires public bodies to perform their duties in a way that is consistent with national climate policy. 

“We know that Section 15 of the Climate Act has been used and weaponised by certain individuals,” Chambers said, pointing specifically to the Galway City ring road project, which was granted planning permission in April. 

He said the government wants to deliver and “accelerate” that road and that it is “a matter for government to decide what projects we want to fund and deliver”.

“It’s not for NGOs to dictate that to government or to use our court system to fundamentally delay projects,” he said, adding that disapplying climate legislation “de-risks certain elements of judicial reviews”.

He said that circumventing the climate law “helps narrow the scope for judicial reviews for certain projects, and in my view, we’re accountable for delivery as well as wider obligations”.

He said there has been “an excessive use of the courts” when it comes to objectors applying for judicial reviews of major infrastructure projects.

“And I would say that our wider obligations to meet our climate targets can’t just be seen through the prism of whether we’re going to build a particular ring road or not,” he added.

“We have multiple objectives across many departments, and it’s not for NGOs or advocates to dictate to government whether we should progress a particular project.”

The nine projects to be fast-tracked using the new legislation fall into three categories: water, energy and transport.

The transport projects are the MetroLink in Dublin, the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme and the Galway City Ring Road.

The water infrastructure projects are the Water Supply Project for the Eastern and Midlands Region, the Greater Dublin Drainage Project and the Limerick (Bunlicky) Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade and Bioresource Centre.

The energy projects are the North South 400 kV Interconnector, the Moneypoint 400 kV Series Capacitor Project and the Letterkenny 110 kV Redevelopment Project.