On a point of order, the Minister is gone to the infrastructure committee.

Sentiment score: 0.00

I thank Members for their constructive and insightful contribution to the debate, which affirms the importance of public investment in the delivery of capital projects and programmes and the urgent need to remove the barriers to infrastructure development. What has been made very clear is that, collectively, we know what the challenges we face are and that infrastructure deficits remain in certain sectors. I thank Members for articulating that. That is why this Government has prioritised investment in water, energy and transport, which will provide the necessary structures to boost national competitiveness and deliver more homes, schools and healthcare facilities. As outlined by my colleague the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in his opening statement, the review of the national development plan sees the largest ever capital investment plan in the history of the State over the period to 2035, with a commitment to invest €275 billion to significantly improve our infrastructure stock. This, in turn, will develop our economy, deliver our housing targets and boost our competitiveness. With such a high level of investment, we need to ensure that the provision of strategic and much-needed infrastructure is delivered in a timely manner, with an emphasis on boosting productivity and resilience and achieving value for money for the Exchequer. That is why the five key commitments for infrastructure delivery outlined in the programme for Government have been implemented. As Members know, the review of the national development plan set out annual sectoral allocations for the period 2026 to 2030 and overall Government capital expenditure ceilings out to 2035. The review considered the most important challenges facing our economy and society, namely, addressing historical infrastructure pressures, ensuring balanced regional development in line with the national planning framework and meeting our climate obligations. To oversee the implementation of the national development plan, a new Cabinet committee on infrastructure has been formed to drive the delivery, accountability and value-for-money of major capital projects. All Departments have published their infrastructure sectoral plans, which provide a clear pipeline of the capital projects to be delivered over the coming years. The National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, has been given a broader remit to provide Departments with financial, procurement and project delivery advice on public infrastructure projects. Furthermore, a new infrastructure division in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation was established, with a deputy secretary general appointed last December and senior officials allocated and specialist staff appointed since. A core remit of the division was leading and supporting the work of the accelerating infrastructure task force and the Minister, Deputy Chambers, led the publication of two substantial reports. The first, in July of last year, which followed a considerable process of external consultation and engagement, outlined the barriers to infrastructure delivery across the country and noted the regulatory environment, the planning and legal systems, drawing particular attention to the judicial review process, and internal systems across the public service and Civil Service, including fragmented governance, procurement challenges and capacity constraints. This initial barriers report was followed by the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan published in December. This report outlined five key objectives. These were: to accelerate delivery of critical infrastructure, particularly in the electricity, water, and transport sectors; to accelerate the delivery of all infrastructure by simplifying and streamlining the regulatory and consenting processes for infrastructure in general; to reduce delays caused by judicial reviews, regulatory complexity and fragmented approvals; to enhance co-ordination across government, utilities and local authorities; and to build public and political support for infrastructure projects. The report set out 30 targeted actions across four strategic pillars to deliver on these objectives. The first pillar is legal reform designed to tackle excessive complexity in the regulatory and infrastructure environment at source without compromising on environmental standards, individual rights or good governance. The second pillar focused on regulatory reform with a view to simplifying and standardising processes so that approvals run in parallel, where possible, aligning procedures across agencies, removing duplication and creating processes with predictable timelines and outcomes. The third pillar is the reform of co-ordination and delivery within and across government, and with the construction sector. Alongside the publication of the NDP review, the departmental sectoral plans provide multi-annual funding certainty and outline a strong and clear pipeline of projects. This is a demonstrable commitment by the Government to the construction sector that gives predictability and supports the sector to invest in the capacity, skills and resources needed to meet the demand. On top of this, the new infrastructure division in our Department will take on a proactive oversight and monitoring role, assessing delivery of the action plan and identifying any barriers to impact. The fourth pillar in the actions report focuses on public acceptance and civic engagement. Our ability to deliver on the critically needed infrastructure rests on societal support. The work under this pillar will focus on building public trust, accountability and improving public engagement processes. While infrastructure projects will be disruptive to some, they will benefit many and this pillar will build and support this mindset. Each of the actions that will be undertaken are clearly linked back to the barriers identified, accompanied by clear deadlines for implementation and with the majority focused in 2026. There is clear responsibility for each action and defined measures of success and accountability. Each action will have direct impact but, more importantly, is part of a considered and comprehensive strategic programme of reform. The total impact of the actions will be greater than the sum of the actions individually. Since the publication of the actions report in December, officials in the Department have moved at pace to implement the changes identified and fundamentally shift the ecosystem underpinning Ireland’s infrastructure delivery to support Ireland’s competitiveness, deliver transport, water and energy services fit for the purposes of our growing country and, crucially, to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030. Senior officials have been appointed, a newly composed infrastructure division has been confirmed and timelines and responsibilities for actions and sub-measures have been submitted. The task force will continue to meet regularly to support the delivery of the plan. As outlined by my colleague the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and reaffirmed here, while we have work to do, we have a clear programme of work to effect change, and we will continue to do everything in our power to increase the capacity to deliver the infrastructure needed for a modern and progressive society. It is simply incorrect to claim judicial review reform is anti-democratic or designed to limit access to the courts. Nothing in the Government's approach removes or restricts the constitutional right to challenge decisions. Judicial reviews remain fully available and all EU-derived environmental safeguards remain intact. The suggestion that the number of judicial reviews is falling is not supported by any official data. The Courts Service report for 2024 stated that 241 new cases entered the planning and environmental list and it has now confirmed that 171 new judicial review proceedings commenced in 2025, out of a total 197 matters, with only 26 relating to non-judicial review applications. The reform agenda builds on the levels of State investment. There are discussions about flooding. As a result, 56 flood relief schemes have now been completed, protecting 30,580 properties. However, I agree that the devastation caused by the flooding has been worrying. We also have the Enniscorthy flood relief scheme. This proposed scheme was refused under the Arterial Drainage Act in March 2022 on the basis of advice from independent environmental consultants, because of the adverse environmental impact of the scheme. I think it was the Taoiseach who said today that we need to protect people and property more sometimes. We have the environmental aspects as well, but we need to balance them in the right way. The social infrastructure is committed for delivery, but it can only be done with the delivery of water, transport and electricity infrastructure. They are constituency projects and I appreciate their importance because I am from a constituency, but we have to have Government co-ordination. I thank Deputies for their insightful participation in today's discussions on infrastructure and I look forward to more questions in the coming weeks and months.

Sentiment score: 0.33