Carol Nolan criticises Aontuasca's role in blocking projects
Carol Nolan criticised Aontuasca for overstepping by attempting to dictate a government agenda and repeatedly painting farmers as scapegoats. She warned that the growing use of judicial review is being used to frustrate and delay projects, creating challenges for investment and job creation.
Main criticisms of Aontuasca
She said Aontuasca are completely overstepping the mark, trying to dictate a government agenda and government policy, and painting farmers time and time again as the scapegoats. Nolan called for strong intervention with Aontuasca and said there must also be collaboration and balance, acknowledging that people have a right to object but objections should be proportionate.
Concerns about judicial review
She emphasised that there is an independent planning process and that it is rigorous and should be respected. Nolan said there is a growing sense that judicial review is becoming a new mechanism to frustrate projects and delay them, and that trend must be acknowledged by society.
Impact on rural jobs and the National Development Plan
Nolan highlighted the need for job creation in rural towns and villages and warned that held-up infrastructure and production projects threaten investment and employment. She said the range of projects delayed is a cause for concern as the National Development Plan was prepared and reviewed.
Forestry example and legislative response
She pointed to recent interventions in forestry where actions were designed to stop licences issuing and said those issues had to be dealt with legislatively. Nolan argued that acknowledging these patterns is necessary to prevent ongoing delays and economic impacts.
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I find this very serious and I do feel that Aontuasca are completely overstepping the mark. They're trying to dictate an agenda, a government agenda. They're also trying to dictate government policy and they've painted farmers time and time again as the scapegoats. It's just not right. We all know here and we've all spoken about the need for job creation in rural towns and villages. We cannot let this continue. We need some strong intervention with Aontuasca. And also there needs to be collaboration. I do believe that there is balance to be struck in terms of objecting to significant facilities. People have rights to object but on the other hand, I think the increasing use of judicial review is something that we have to, as a society, reflect on. There is an independent planning process there. It is an independent planning process there. It is an independent planning process. It is rigorous and it should be respected. And there is a growing sense that the judicial review is becoming a new mechanism to frustrate projects and delay projects hoping that they may not develop then. And that is creating challenges on the investment side and on the creation of job side. And I think that has to be acknowledged. And I think that has to be acknowledged. What the deputies are saying, you know, is problematic. We saw it in forestry in the last while where there was consistent, you know, interventions which were designed really to stop any licences from issuing and so on. We had to deal with that legislatively. So there are significant issues in terms of, as we prepared the National Development Plan, for example, we've reviewed this. The range of projects, be they infrastructure or production, that are held up now. It has to be a cause for concern overall. Thank you.
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