Following the outcome of the 2025 NDP Review, my Department developed and published in December 2025 a Sectoral Plan for the tertiary sector for the period 2026–2030. This five-year investment plan sets out the framework, for sectoral investment planning over the 2026–2030 period and will guide delivery across the higher and further education and research sectors. This plan set out the indicative construction timelines and details of the governance of delivery. The Sectoral Investment Plan is a live document and is reviewed periodically to take account of emerging and changing priorities.
Of the €4.55?billion, €2.45?billion is dedicated to research and innovation, including the €750m INSPIRE programme, which will modernise research infrastructure, expand high performance computing capacity, and deliver major shared and institutional-level equipment upgrades. The remaining €2.1 billion supports capital infrastructure across the higher and further education system, delivering new and upgraded facilities, campus modernisation, FET College of the Future major projects, refurbishment and upgrade programmes, PPP projects and targeted investments in specialist areas such as healthcare, veterinary, apprenticeship expansion, student accommodation, and decarbonisation.
My Department works in collaboration with the Higher Education Authority and SOLAS and the higher education institutions and Education and Training Boards on the development and delivery of a pipeline of capital projects, that can be progressed under the NDP capital ceilings. The further and higher education capital budget is managed at an overall level by my Department, in conjunction with the Higher Education Authority and SOLAS, with allocations to higher education institutions and education and training boards in any given year determined, among other factors, by the pace of progress of approved projects through design, planning, procurement and delivery in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines, and subject to NDP provisions.
This investment profile delivers the capital pillars of my Department's Sectoral Investment Plan and ensures a strategic, programme-based approach to delivery from 2026 to 2030. Funding provided supports institutions in addressing identified capacity and infrastructure deficits. Projects are assessed, approved and managed in accordance with the established Infrastructure Guidelines, ensuring that the best value for money is obtained and that projects are delivered in a timely and efficient manner.
