Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
6. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the priority capital projects in Dublin Bay North that fall under his Department’s oversight, including planned investment to expand community infrastructure such as primary care capacity, school buildings, and targeted disability facilities to meet projected population growth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70843/25]
View answerThe NDP Review 2025 was published on 22 July 2025, in line with the Programme for Government commitment. The Plan committed €275.4 billion in public capital investment to 2035 – the largest and most significant capital injection in our economy in the history of the State.
Arising from this, €19.1 billion in Exchequer capital investment will be provided in 2026. On Budget day, Ministers set out the capital projects and programmes that they will prioritise within their allocation in 2026.
The Programme for Government set out the clear prioritisation for the NDP Review to ensure that investment can be maximised in the coming five years for strategic infrastructure. This includes the key energy, water and transport networks on which all future development relies. This is critical to allow Government to meet the additional 300,000 homes target and to support competitiveness.
Following the allocation of the NDP Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings, it is a matter for each Minister to assign funding as appropriate at programme and subhead level for their Departments and the agencies under their remit, accounting for the demands for services in different areas and regions and having regard to demographics and other relevant factors. Within this process, both current and capital expenditure are allocated on a Departmental basis and not a geographic basis.
More broadly, the achievement of balanced regional development is a key priority of this Government and is at the heart of Project Ireland 2040, which includes the National Planning Framework (NPF), which sets out the overarching spatial strategy, along with the National Development Plan.
Since Project Ireland 2040 was first launched in 2018, the Government has overseen the delivery of many impactful NDP projects across the country, including in Dublin, and including in the priority sectors of energy, water and waste water, transport, housing and health.
My Department tracks investment by county and some of the critical infrastructure delivered in Dublin is to the benefit of all its residents, including people in Dublin Bay North.
These works include for example Bus Connects Dublin, and enhancements to wider public transport capacity; water and wastewater works in Ringsend, Saggart Reservoir and Upper Liffey Valley. Further delivery under the NDP has included investment in further education infrastructure at the TU Dublin Grangegorman, Tallaght and Blanchardstown campuses, completing the Polaris Building in DCU and redevelopments of the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Significant education construction has been completed in North Dublin including works on Stapolin, Belmayne and St. Francis of Assisi National School & Belmayne Educate Together Schools.
In recent weeks, individual Ministers have developed sectoral level plans, for priority investment programmes and projects within their additional capital allocations for delivery across the country. Considering sectoral needs and Ministerial decisions, these plans reflect Government priorities, including the National Planning Framework commitment to balanced regional development.
The plans published to date include planned investment and projects across the country, and are available on each Department’s website with full details. These include a range of projects across Dublin county and city, which will serve both national and local level needs.
For example:
• investment in health infrastructure includes works at the National Children’s Hospital and supporting the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital;
• housing investment includes delivering over 1,400 new social housing units and over 1,600 new affordable housing units across the county;
• investment in our justice infrastructure including Mountjoy and Wheatfield Prisons and the Dublin Family Courts; and
• and investment in culture and heritage infrastructure including the RDS arena and the Samuel Beckett Civic Campus.
An upfront injection of €2billion is to be provided for Uisce Éireann in 2025, and another €2.5billion is available for drawdown by Uisce Éireann up to 2030. This is to support delivery of critical water and wastewater infrastructure including works for the Greater Dublin Area Drainage Project, a significant investment in regional wastewater treatment with capacity to serve 500,000 people. This critical investment will underpin the Government’s commitment to delivery of 300,000 new housing units by 2030.
Full details on each Department’s sectoral investment plans for capital projects across the country are available on each Department’s website. Final plans by all Departments are expected to be published by the end of the year.
