The Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, has withdrawn from Cabinet the Critical Infrastructure Bill, which was designed to "fast-track" motorways, incinerators and other major public projects.
The plan for the Bill was introduced with fanfare by the Taoiseach and former minister for the environment Mr Cullen at the Fianna Fáil Ardfheis in October 2003, and presented as the way to overcome planning delays and difficulties for vital projects of national importance.
The Bill would have established a National Infrastructure Board with a remit to speed up delivery of major initiatives.
But within days the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, had signalled his opposition, arguing that the board should not have the power to decide on projects such as the incinerator proposed for his Dublin constituency.
The municipal waste incinerator planned by Dublin City Council for Poolbeg, in his Dublin South East constituency, had run into strong opposition from local people.
Mr Roche takes the view that plans for this incinerator, which would have the capacity to burn 400,000 tonnes of waste per year, should go through the normal planning process rather than wait for a new board to "fast-track" it.
The Bill was brought to the Cabinet on three separate occasions over the past two years.
Speaking yesterday on his withdrawal of the Bill, Mr Roche said he needed to be convinced that it was the right way to proceed, given the "superb" performance both of An Bord Pleanála and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"An Bord Pleanála is doing a very good job, and so is the EPA," Mr Roche said, adding that he had recently met the board's chairman, Mr John O'Connor, and the EPA's director-general, Ms Mary Kelly, to be briefed on their roles.
Asked whether the plan to establish a National Infrastructure Board was now being abandoned, in the light of their performance, the Minister said he would be reviewing the proposed legislation to see if it was necessary.
Both An Bord Pleanála and the EPA have approved plans by the Belgian-owned company, Indaver Ireland Ltd, for waste incinerators at Carranstown, Co Meath, and Ringaskiddy, Co Cork - the latter to treat hazardous waste from industry.
An Bord Pleanála has also approved all 14 of the motorway and other major road projects that have come before it for adjudication since January 2003 - even in cases where its planning inspectors recommended refusals.
Since 2003, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and other Ministers have been flagging the need to overcome "bureaucratic obstacles" and other delays in the way of delivering major public projects, particularly road schemes.
At the Fianna Fáil Ardfheis in 2003, Mr Cullen said Ireland's economic interests could not be held to ransom.
Explaining the thinking behind the proposal the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said at the time that while the Madrid metro was built in three years, a similar project here had to "go through eight hoops, through all environmental, planning and blah blah blah, and every blah costs a few hundred million".
