“Abbiamo lasciato cadere la palla”: gli obiettivi abitativi dell’Irlanda ci mancheranno perché l’acqua, l’elettricità e le strade richieste non possono essere consegnate: l’Irish Times

If only there is something the government can do about Public Infrastructure. Oh well. Let’s try again next year. They’ll make it this time.

/S

I wonder how many of those works were turned down because of planning permission objections. 

This is the biggest issue the State faces. The complete and utter inability / refusal to make whatever changes are necessary- legal, constitutional etc – to build the infrastructure needed.

We are going to run out of water in the rainiest country in Europe!

We can’t build enough windmills in the windiest country in Europe!

We can’t even build a rail line from the airport never mind a metro.

It’s so frustrating and now that I am heading towards 60 I know I will never see these things done.

(I know we are not the absolute rainiest or windiest)

Ireland is a wealthy country still stuck in the 60s  when it comes to bureaucracy 

And all of this while we have enormous surpluses that will defo not last. I suppose there’s a faint possibility that they intend to do the infrastructure building during the next recession (which is the economic advice, build in a recession, spend less in a boom) but I have zero trust in them and we’ve needed this stuff since well before the surpluses

Complaints about the planning process and legal framework are getting more common. A lot more common and yet the government’s planning bill that passed just before the election last year is already considered not enough.

In the UK there is a lot of a talk about the need simplify the planning process especially for infrastructure. New York and California both very wealthy states are hitting problems with cost about delivering infrastructure and the planning/legal process around it is getting a lot of blame. Their approach is similar to ours appartently.

Changing the planning process significantly in Ireland will be politically charged, as there is zero chance of getting agreement even within parties. All politicians want to be stop some development, even members of SF and (well former) of the Green have acknowledged the need to speed up the planning process for certain projects.

But so many of these problems were predicted years ago, everyone knew the population was growing. Simon Coveny made a huge speech about needing to prepare for the growing while minister for housing and then did nothing about it. There is a serious lack of long term thinking in Ireland not even planning, thinking from our senior civil servants and politicians.

I would fire everyone in the government if I could.