Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Farrell. Last week, the Government published the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. It is a comprehensive programme of actions designed to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State. This action plan responds to well-documented challenges of lengthy development timelines, fragmented processes and rising costs. These have all been identified as major barriers to achieving Ireland’s housing, energy, and climate objectives. The report is evidence-based. It has been built on the research and analysis of my Department, the views received during the public consultation and stakeholder engagement over the summer, and the expert input and advice from the members of the accelerating infrastructure task force. The plan sets out 30 targeted actions under four pillars, each addressing a key area of reform. The first pillar is legal reform. Reforms here aim to achieve a better balance towards the common good by addressing the incentives that drive a disproportionate reliance on the courts in planning and regulatory matters. While access to justice remains protected, the reforms will reduce incentives for excessive litigation, clarify rules on standing and remedies, and introduce fast-track pathways for nationally significant projects that are in the common good, through new legislation. The second pillar is regulatory simplification and reform. This means identifying where regulation leads to excessive process, rather than improved outcomes. It also means examining the structure of our regulatory environment, the practices applied by regulatory bodies and how they communicate with one another and with applicants. In practical terms, there is scope for improved outcomes by applying parallel processes, mandatory statutory timelines and measuring the performance of our regulatory bodies. The third pillar is co-ordination and delivery reform. This implements the reforms outlined in the programme for Government. It means my Department assumes a more central co-ordination role on the delivery of critical infrastructure, providing certainty to other Departments through multi-year funding commitments to underpin five-year sectoral plans and reforms to the infrastructure guidelines. Across government, it means driving and embedding a delivery-first culture, including a balance between risk and delivery that incorporates the potential cost of delay. The final pillar is public acceptance. I will set out greater detail on that.
Sentiment score: 0.19
The first aspect is on the actions which relate to reform and the majority of them fall in 2026. We have tried to front-load the interventions and actions we make so we can see the benefits of having legal reform, regulatory reform and simplification, better co-ordination delivery and improved public acceptance. They are the four areas identified. Most of those are to be progressed in 2026. We have already set out the national development plan review, which the Deputy will know about, and sectoral plans have been published in recent weeks setting out the trajectory of projects and of priorities across all areas of Government for the next number of years. The Deputy's point about five and ten years obviously relates to the overall capital investment. We have set out the €275 billion over ten years in the five-year sectoral plans. However, the reforms here are not about the investment. They are about how we change the practice and the delivery which is too slow. Doing that quickly is imperative to ensure the investment we have set aside yields improved delivery and that is the nature of what is set out.
Sentiment score: 0.17
We have fronted up an investment and taking the investment profile over the next five years, it means we will be one of the biggest investors in infrastructure per capita in Europe and have about 5% GNI*. We have responded to that around the investment piece. However, there is a well-documented need and an evidence base to drive reform and infrastructure delivery and that is why there needs to be much more balance around regulation. We need to cut some rules, regulations and processes which are not adding value but are causing excessive delay. We also need to have a wider debate about the level of regulation around certain areas within the economy to ensure we have growth and delivery as a means to drive the strategic direction of the State. This is all about co-ordination and delivery of reform as well, and that is why the practical measures we have set out in this report will do what the Deputy said earlier in her remarks when she said we all want this to work. Ultimately, it is about how our energy systems, our transport infrastructure and our water infrastructure yields greater abundance across the economy so we can improve investment and increase the opportunities for job creation. That is what we have sought to do in this report.
Sentiment score: 0.17
As the Deputy is aware, the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 is Ireland's national whistleblower protection law. Significant amendments to the Act were signed into law in July 2022. The amended Act gives effect to EU Directive 2019/1937 and provides for the establishment of the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner within the Ombudsman's office. As Minister, I am obligated to commence a statutory review of the Act no later than five years after the date of enactment, which is July 2027. That review must be completed and a report made to the Oireachtas no later than July 2028. I will arrange for the review to commence in advance of 2027 and for a public consultation to take place during 2026. A number of stakeholders have been pointing to challenges arising from the implementation of the amended legislation, including the protected disclosure processes and procedures. The statutory review will be an opportunity to bring to light any issues arising by consulting a more complete range of stakeholders and hearing their respective perspectives. It is clearly preferable to put forward amendments that are well considered and based on the experience and evidence of all relevant stakeholders. The consultation will provide an opportunity to ensure that is done. It is important to note that the legislation has only been in force for three years and many of the provisions in the Act have yet to be fully tested in practice and in the courts. The legislation was designed to encourage workers to report instances of potential wrongdoing. Given the amended Act only commenced on 1 January 2023, my Department has only two full years of statistics on the number of reports of wrongdoing received by Departments, public bodies and prescribed persons. The statistics suggest that the volume of reports received is increasing. In 2023, more than 1,100 reports were received, while in 2024, the number was just over 1,500. This increase suggests a greater awareness of the amendments that were introduced in 2022 among workers and that more workers felt motivated to make a protected disclosure under the framework. In the meantime, effective ways to address the issues arising from the ongoing implementation of the protected disclosures legislation include increased training and guidance for employers, regulators and designated recipients, as well as providing more guidance to workers to ensure their concerns are directed to the appropriate channels.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I have had limited engagement on this matter with counterparts at an EU level. The directive has been transposed. Our Presidency in 2026 will allow opportunities for engagement on it. In the context of the review that will be happening in parallel, there will be a greater opportunity to take wider European feedback on this issue. We transposed the directive and legislation was enacted in 2022. Ultimately, I want to make sure, as I am sure we all do, that we have a system that works. It is timely to have a review that takes into account people's full experiences and everyone's interaction with the existing system. Following that consultation, I am open to taking the feedback and seeing how we can have a system that best supports whistleblowers. That is ultimately the direction and context in which I want to see it operate.
Sentiment score: 0.35
I will, of course, listen to and engage with whistleblowers. The review is really important, which is why we are bringing it forward from 2027 to 2026 to ensure we have broad feedback. They system I want to see operating is one that works for whistleblowers. As I said, we will be able to advance that next year.
Sentiment score: 0.25
The independent review panel on senior public service recruitment and pay determination processes was established in March 2022 and its report was published in June 2023. It found that pay determination of senior posts should consider best practice in terms of openness, transparency, accountability and the need for an objective evidence-based methodology. To this end, it recommended that an independent body be established to give independent advice to the Minister on remuneration arrangements for senior posts in the public service and CEOs of commercial State bodies, CSBs. It further recommended that a review of CEOs of CSBs be prioritised. On foot of this report, the senior posts remuneration committee, SPRC, was established by Government in March 2024 to provide independent and objective advice, supporting consistency and transparency in the pay arrangements attaching to senior roles across the public service. The SPRC was requested to perform a review of the remuneration arrangements for the CEOs of CSBs. Following Government approval, I published the SPRC report on 29 April 2025. The SPRC made a number of findings and recommendations. The report found CEO remuneration packages have fallen out of alignment with the market and that a transparent and robust framework for the regular review of CEO remuneration was required to ensure remuneration levels are set and remain at a level that is appropriate and equitable. The report outlines fair and appropriate remuneration as a key element in the recruitment and retention of CEOs, who are critical to the State's future development and economic performance. Having considered the report, the Government has agreed to implement a more structured approach to the remuneration of CEOs. A banded salary structure is being implemented for CEOs, which ranges from their current salary to the market median of the relevant band. In line with the SPRC findings in relation to increased flexibility for boards, it is a matter for boards to propose a point within the relevant band for the body. This is subject to governance and scrutiny. The approval of the relevant Minister is required and then my subsequent consent. There will be no backdating of any changes to pay. I have since written to my ministerial colleagues regarding the operational details.
Sentiment score: 0.23
On a wider point, the budgets we implemented this year and in recent years are progressive. That is reflected in the SWITCH model the ESRI has around low-income deciles. The two lowest income deciles have been where the concentration of supports has been in terms of our response from a social protection perspective and the changes around income tax I made as Minister for Finance. We received recommendations from the independent senior posts remuneration committee. It is important we have a structured way to set salaries within the State. That is why we have a banded structure based on the market median in respect of commercial State bodies. It is important we have that in the context of attracting people to run those companies, whether utilities or other State bodies, so that we drive performance. That is why there has to be a full assessment within the board and with the consent of the relevant Minister, in line with the wider focus on performance within State bodies.
Sentiment score: 0.18
The Deputy saw the recent budget and the intervention we made around child poverty. It was a significant intervention on child poverty, the biggest in years. That was the child support payment and it was done with the engagement of the sector. We want to address the issues with child poverty in our country. The facts are clear about the €300 million-plus expenditure on child poverty measures next year to try to narrow the gap. The Government, led by the Taoiseach and his Department, has put a real focus on child poverty because of some of the statistics the Deputy referenced. This is separate and distinct from an informed decision made by a board assessing CEO pay. It is populist to pit one against the other.
Sentiment score: -0.18
Ultimately, we want utilities that have strong leadership and that are matched with the market median so we build an economy and State which can address child poverty and give people the support they require.
Sentiment score: 0.46