As Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitisation I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level.
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. These sectors, electricity, water and transport, were further defined as critical infrastructure in the Accelerating Infrastructure Actions Report and Action Plan published last December.
The Plan sets out 30 targeted actions grouped under four pillars, each addressing a key area of reform, with legal reform noted as a core element for accelerating critical infrastructure projects across the country. This work will, among other measures, include increasing exemption thresholds for critical infrastructure, reform processes with agencies and regulators, advocating for a new approach to legislation at EU level and creating a duty for state bodies to co-operate in making land available and accessible for critical infrastructure.
My Department has established a function to track and monitor delivery of the actions within the Accelerating Infrastructure Report. A number of cross-governmental groups have also been established to provide greater co-ordination and monitor on actions and delivery.
Progress on the delivery of these 30 actions under the four pillars is on track with over 1/3 of the agreed actions completed at the end of Q1 2026. The Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce(AIT) meet regularly with sponsoring Departments and Agencies to coordinate work on these actions. A Senior Officials Group supports the work of the Taskforce through its oversight function. In addition, the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure is updated regularly on progress of these actions.
In the wake of the 2025 Plan, Departments published sectoral investment plans setting out the capital projects to be prioritised from 2026 to 2030. These plans provide visibility of the delivery pipeline, giving construction firms the certainty they need to invest in hiring, training, and scaling their operations. This multi-year approach is designed to support industry planning and ensure that regional capacity can grow in line with demand.
The plans include planned investment and projects across the country, including a range of projects and critical infrastructure works. These sectoral plans are available on each Departmental website and will provide the Deputy with further detail on a sectoral basis.
