Consultation on Accelerating Infrastructure

The objective of this consultation is to invite feedback from stakeholders, industry experts and the wider public on infrastructure delivery.

Ireland has an infrastructure deficit, which can be attributed to the historic constraints of comparatively low capital investment levels over significant periods of the State’s history. More recently, higher than forecasted economic and population growth have placed further pressure on Ireland’s infrastructure levels.

The impacts of this infrastructure deficit are most evident in housing delivery, the level of which remains below what is necessary to meet the needs of our economy and steadily rising population.

The complexity of infrastructure delivery has increased rapidly in recent years. This is evident in the project development cycle, in terms of the increased time from conception to completion.

These infrastructure delivery challenges have real impacts:

• Longer development cycles typically increase the cost of infrastructure
• Uncertainty makes it difficult for delivery bodies to adequately plan a capital investment strategy that effectively prioritises projects, and increases risk contingencies
• Delays in key projects mean climate benefits are realised later than anticipated, leading to continued environmental damage and risks in meeting our climate targets

Successive reforms, while well-intentioned, appear to have significantly increased the complexity of infrastructure delivery. In turn, this has lengthened development timelines at every stage of the project lifecycle.

The cumulative impact of successive reforms on the timelines for infrastructure development requires analysis and policy consideration. In response, the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and his department have been mandated to develop policy options to accelerate the pace of infrastructure delivery in Ireland.

The department is working to identify the most significant barriers preventing and limiting infrastructure development. Experts from a range of semi-state companies and state agencies have been temporarily redeployed to the department, and the Minister has established an Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce with senior experts to provide guidance and advice. Over the coming weeks, we will be gathering evidence on how infrastructure is developed in certain key sectors.

The aim of this work is to present a systematic assessment of the infrastructure development cycle across key sectors to Government. This will include a view on the most pressing barriers to infrastructure development, and it will focus on critical economic infrastructure, specifically the electricity, water and transport sectors. A subsequent series of high impact reforms and actions will be developed for consideration by Government.

We want to ensure that the people who have been affected by the delivery of critical economic infrastructure have a say in the ongoing assessment and subsequent recommendations. For that reason, we are inviting responses from relevant stakeholders, including the public, on a series of questions.

We are inviting feedback from stakeholders, industry experts and the wider public on infrastructure delivery.

The closing date for submissions is 5p.m., 4 July 2025.

Please review the privacy notice for the Accelerating Infrastructure public consultation.

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