Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
41. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the progress made to date under National Strategic Outcome (NSO) 9 of the National Development Plan 2021-2030; the additional funding allocated under this NSO following the review of the NDP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70490/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs 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.
In the 2021 NDP review, the Government originally committed €165 billion in capital investment for the period 2021-30, and subsequently agreed to additional funding of €2.25 billion in March 2024 for 2024-2026.
The revised National Development Plan, published in July, set out €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. Following the agreement of the revised NDP in July 2025, gross capital expenditure ceilings for all sectors have now been set out to 2030.
National Strategic Outcome (NSO) 9 relates to the Sustainable Management of Water, Waste and other Environmental Resources. Investment in water and wastewater services is a key strategic priority under the 2025 NDP Review. Across all sources, including the NDP investment and equity injections, a total of €12 billion has been earmarked specifically for critical water infrastructure. This includes a €2 billion equity injection into Uisce Éireann in 2025, with a further €2.5 billion earmarked for 2026 to 2030 specifically to support large scale water infrastructure projects.
This is on top of the previous funding to Uisce Éireann to date, including €1.372 billion in 2024 and €1.289 billion in 2023.
Resources from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund have also been employed under the NDP review allocating a further:
• €500million to the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment to fund projects and programmes that will support climate mitigation and renewable energy development; and
• €500 million to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for projects and programmes that will support improvements in water quality.
Each Minister is now responsible for designating the environmental resource projects that will be funded under the INCF for 2026-2030.
A range of projects have been delivered under NSO 9 since the 2021 NDP review, including for example:
• Over 60 water and wastewater treatment plant upgrades
• Over 123,000 people have been removed from ‘Boil Water Notices’ that had been in place for more than 30 days; and
• Over 51 water supplies were removed from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Remedial Action List improving water quality for over 1 million people.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Sectoral Investment plan for Water Services and Water Quality was published on 13 November and is available to download from gov.ie. The plan sets out in detail the commitments to delivery for the water sector – with €11.7 billion earmarked for Uisce Éireann to support a wide range of projects to deliver the additional water services capacity required to meet our housing target of 300,000 new homes by 2030 and €230 million to be invested in rural water infrastructure. A further €306 million is invested to restore and improve water quality in rivers, lakes and coastal waters.
A full list of projects and programmes for each of the ten National Strategic Outcomes can be found in the regular publications by my Department on the gov.ie site;
• The capital investment tracker provides a composite update on the progress of all major investments with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million.
• The myProjectIreland interactive map details projects across the country and provides details on specific projects by county and contains smaller investments such as schools and health facilities.
• And, the Project Ireland 2040 Annual and Regional Reports highlight achievements and give a detailed overview of the public investments that have been made throughout the country, including detail from across Government on the national strategic objectives. The forthcoming Project Ireland 2024 Annual and Regional Reports will provide full and up to date detail on delivery of the National Strategic Outcomes.
