Speech by Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the Engineers Ireland Cork Region Annual Dinner

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It is a great pleasure to be here with you all this evening at the Engineers Ireland Cork Region Annual Dinner.

I would like to thank Jim Leahy for the invitation to spend this evening with you.

Also thanks to Lord Mayor Dan Boyle, Deputy County Mayor Patrick Donovan, President Laura Burke, the staff and all members of Engineers Ireland Cork.

I am pleased to be able to engage tonight with an audience which includes the full span of engineering experience – from young engineers at the start of their careers right through to Fellows of the profession across the various disciplines, who are at the forefront of delivering projects which are pivotal to Ireland’s prosperity.

I am fortunate to have had a long and strong relationship with your organisation, from my time both as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and Minister for Education, and later as Tánaiste and Taoiseach.

I understand the importance of the engineering profession in academia, industry and the public sector. It plays a critical role in driving innovation, in building and maintaining national infrastructure, and in economic growth and output.

Your work can be seen at every level of Irish society, from the individual house build, to some of the world’s most complex Pharma and electronics manufacturing facilities.

The mark of your profession is everywhere we look in Cork – from the great civic buildings and historic churches in our city, to the new infrastructure that continues to drive the growth and progress of our region – the Dunkettle Interchange upgrade or the new runway at Cork Airport.

Your expertise and innovation will drive the next chapters in the story of Cork – the Cork City Docklands, Grand Parade Quarter, Cork Area Commuter Rail; the Cork Events Centre.

The government I lead wants to work with you to deliver these and our many other shared goals, including an acceleration of vital national infrastructure and a major uplift in the output of new homes.

As we are all aware, housing is the major social and economic challenge facing this country.

The new Programme for Government underscores our commitment both to dealing with this challenge and to providing the infrastructure to sustain a growing economy and society. It goes without saying that engineers and the engineering sector will play a central role in the success of this major national effort, delivering for our people and putting in place the foundations for the success of generations to come.

Over the past five years there has been a record level of more than €65 billion invested in capital infrastructure projects across the country.

And we are just getting started. I have been consistent in saying that we need to accelerate funding and delivery of water infrastructure, of energy infrastructure, of defence infrastructure, of road safety, of public transport, of educational facilities, of health facilities and of many other areas.

And to do this we have to increase the level of national income which is spent on public infrastructure.

In Budget 2025, we allocated an additional €3 billion to support further investment in water, energy and housing, and the forthcoming review of the NDP will update the allocations throughout Government for the years ahead. That will be crucial to the delivery of the priorities in the Programme for Government.

But as I’ve said, Housing is the major social and economic challenge we face, and we are determined to build significantly on the progress achieved during the last government.

Over 130,000 new homes have been constructed since 2020. First time buyer mortgage drawdowns are at the highest level since 2007. Social housing provision is at its highest level since the 1970s.

In 2024, the number of new homes built in County Cork increased by almost 15%.

But none of it is enough, and more clearly needs to be done.

The new Programme for Government sets out our determination to increase the scale of ambition and to accelerate delivery.

Over the term of this government, we are going to build up construction capacity, implement the Planning and Development Act, increase innovation, and provide a stable policy environment to support us in attracting private investment, to work side by side with State investment.

I am determined that we will take whatever steps are necessary to deliver the houses that our people need, that our society needs.

I’ve mentioned the scale of innovation in your sector, and one area of innovation I and the government are focussed on is the growing presence of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). I believe it has the potential to dramatically improve construction sector productivity, inventiveness, speed of delivery, and sustainability.

We are prioritising the promotion of the widespread adoption of MMC into the various state housing delivery channels and we are working to ensure a much greater degree of integration and coordination across a range of MMC initiatives.

As everyone here knows very well, the area of skills development is also one of huge importance as we work to further scale up our housing delivery. This government will work with Engineers Ireland to make sure we are doing everything we can to meet our national skills needs.

We are broadening the learning pathways for prospective engineers, including through engineering apprenticeships.

Great work is also being done under the Human Capital Initiative, providing funding for graduate conversion courses in Engineering and STEM, and industry-responsive micro-credential programmes.

I am very grateful to Engineers Ireland for your continued collaboration to address our skills challenges.

Níl aon amhras ach go gcuireann innealtóirí go mór le forbairt na tíre seo agus déanamid cinnte go n-éistfimid libh agus muid ag cur ár bpolasaithe i gcrích amach anseo.

As is often the case we need to start with our young people. I know the good work that your organisation does in promoting engineering as a subject and as a career.

The timing of tonight’s event is good, given that the start of next month (1-7 March) is Engineers Week in primary and secondary schools.

I hope that through the effective communication of the creativity, ingenuity and impact of engineers on every aspect of the world around us, we can inspire the professionals of the future.

As a final word, I would like to thank you again for inviting me here tonight. There is no doubt that engineers across Cork and the country will have a central role in addressing the challenges we face to meet the needs of our people and in creating a more sustainable society and environment for everyone.

I respect and admire the work you do.

I thank you for it.

And I look forward to the great things that we can achieve together in our country over the years to come.

Go mbainfidh sibh go léir sult as an gcuid eile den oíche agus ádh mór oraibhse go léir lena gcuid oibre.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.