The National Development Plan (NDP) Review 2025 was published in July and is the largest ever capital injection in our economy in the history of the State. The Review sets out a total public capital investment of €275.4bn over the period to 2035. This comprises €202.4bn in Exchequer Voted capital expenditure from 2026 to 2035.
Of this, €102.4bn is being allocated for the next five years – an additional €23.9bn on what was previously allocated in the NDP. For each sector, specific 5-year multiannual ceilings have been provided out to 2030 to allow sectors to plan and provide multiannual allocations for projects and programmes.
In addition, for critical infrastructure sectors of Energy, Water and Transport, a further €10bn in equity and fund releases is being provided for megaprojects in water, energy and transport. This funding is being provided to give even greater levels of certainty to these agencies that key megaprojects can be supported and are not in competition with other worthwhile projects that the sector has to deliver. This brings the total additional capital investment to €33.9bn for the period to 2030.
With certainty on 5-year sectoral capital allocation, it is the responsibility of each Minister and their Departments to prioritise projects and programmes and ensure they can support these projects to delivery, including through multiannual certainty in funding.
Government Ministers and their officials are currently developing their sectoral plans of capital projects and programmes to be prioritised over the next five years, according to the agreed sectoral capital allocations for 2026 to 2030, with a clear focus on value for money and delivery. It is anticipated that the sectoral plans will be published in November 2025.
