Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 April 2026
46. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation for an overview of the progress made to date under National Strategic Outcome (NSO) 2 of the National Development Plan 2021-2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27668/26]
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 €2.25billion in March 2024 for 2024-2026.
The revised National Development Plan, published in July 2025, 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.
While Government has prioritised investment towards the critical growth-enabling sectors of housing, energy, water and transport all Departments are now tasked with developing sectoral plans for the upcoming 5 years out to 2030, which will detail priority projects to be progressed. Departments must ensure that the plans are affordable within the gross capital expenditure ceilings as agreed by Government. These plans will be published in the coming weeks.
NSO 2 relates to enhanced regional accessibility.
Given the nature of this strategic priority, many projects take a number of years to fully deliver, and transport has been highlighted as a critical growth-enabling sector in the NDP Review.
A total of €22,330million was allocated to the Department of Transport for the 2026-2030 period.
A range of projects have been delivered under NSO 2 since the 2021 NDP review, including for example:
• Cabinet approval of the N21/N69 Limerick to Adare to Foynes in time for the 2027 Ryder Cup
• N5 Westport to Turlough, Mayo officially opened in June 2023
• The M8/N25 Dunkettle Interchange upgrade was officially opened in February 2024
• The N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom road was opened in November 2023
Further works on the construction of the National Train Control Centre are ongoing with full commissioning expected in 2026 and ongoing investment in Inter-City Railcars orders and entry into service.
While Government has prioritised investment towards the critical growth-enabling sectors of housing, energy, water and transport, all Departments were then tasked with developing sectoral plans for the upcoming 5 years out to 2030. These plans are currently being published and detail priority projects to be progressed, and Departments must ensure that the plans are affordable within the gross capital expenditure ceilings as agreed by Government.
The Department of Transport Sectoral Investment plan was published on 26 November and is available to download from gov.ie. The plan sets out in detail the commitments to delivery for the sector.
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 Project Ireland 2024 Annual and Regional Reports published in December last year provide full and up to date detail on delivery of the National Strategic Outcomes.
