2026-04-16

12. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will report on the new infrastructure regulatory simplification unit in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27467/26]

Will the Minister report on the new infrastructure regulatory simplification unit in his Department and make a statement on it?

On 3 December 2025, the Government published the accelerating infrastructure action plan. The report sets out a comprehensive programme of actions designed to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State and includes 30 actions across four key areas. The second pillar is regulatory reform and simplification. 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 applicants. It is important to note that regulation also brings important benefits. It protects consumers and society as a whole through the application of safeguards, such as environmental protection. However, it also implies a cost and quicker and more simplified regulation can help balance this cost with the benefits. The overarching objective of pillar 2 reforms is to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden, thereby minimising time and cost impacts on infrastructure delivery and speeding it up. The establishment of the infrastructure regulatory simplification unit, as I announced in February, marked the commencement of action 9 of the report. The new unit is conducting a risk-based review of the current regulatory landscape, analysing and mapping existing processes and engaging with the bodies involved in consenting, permitting and licensing to identify and remove bottlenecks. The unit will also seek to identify opportunities to enhance co-operation and streamline processes for more effective delivery of the national development plan. It will focus on simplifying and improving the complex regulatory processes across critical infrastructure sectors, namely, housing, energy, transport and water infrastructure. Progress on this has commenced at pace and a new circular issued on 26 March. It seeks to embed the principles for better regulation of critical infrastructure. It includes a series of regulatory process reforms that must be implemented by public sector bodies with statutory, regulatory, operational or delivery responsibilities for critical infrastructure. It outlines eight principles for better regulation that public sector bodies are required to implement in their own regulatory processes. These are necessity, effectiveness and proportionality. I will detail them more in a moment.

I thank the Minister. I welcome the establishment of the regulatory simplification unit and the clear focus on accelerating the delivery of critical infrastructure. For too long, overlapping consenting, permitting and licensing processes have delayed progress on vital infrastructure projects. This is particularly evident in key sectors such as transport, energy and water services, all of which are essential to housing delivery, economic growth and balanced regional development. Communities across Offaly and regional Ireland want projects to move more quickly from approval to delivery. Will the Minister outline what specific reforms will be prioritised by the unit to remove duplication, improve co-ordination across Departments and agencies and shorten the time it takes for critical projects to commence?

Some of the principles of better regulation are necessity, effectiveness, proportionality, coherence, efficiency, being time-bound, transparency and accountability. The reforms and principles outlined in the circular will drive better co-ordination between bodies. We seek to simplify many of the overlapping and unduly complex regulatory frameworks. The unit will use these principles to drive reforms across many of the bodies involved in regulation for critical infrastructure to shorten timelines and simplify processes to ensure we better deliver across the infrastructure system. The circular is a direction and agreement we brought to Government. Some agencies, which I will not name, have come before the infrastructure task force and are advancing some of the regulatory reforms, reducing timelines and being part of the solution. All agencies and bodies involved in infrastructure need to reduce timelines because they are, in many instances, resulting in slowing delivery across the board. We have had good, constructive and productive discussions with bodies and reforms are advancing. I can go into more detail on the specifics.

While the creation of the unit is welcome, what people want is delivery. We in the committee on infrastructure and the national development plan voted not to have pre-legislative scrutiny because we realised this needed to be done and we needed to set an example. We need to move this fast. Will the Minister provide a clear timeline for when these reforms will begin to have an impact? What measurable reductions in approval and commencement timelines does the Minister expect to see in the coming years?

One reform that has already happened is that of the infrastructure guidelines. We have removed the need, in many instances, for the external assurance process, which saves at least 20 weeks. We have cut the decision gates from three to two. A lot of process-related work goes into an additional decision gate where a matter is brought to Government. That process has been removed, which saves multiple weeks. The update from the joint utilities and transport clearing house is that there are about ten significant critical regulatory barriers across the utilities and infrastructure sector. The team in my Department is working to remove them. We have a specific team doing specific work on removing barriers across the infrastructure system. It is also conducting a wider review of the regulatory landscape in our country. It is all about improved speed. We seek to apply the reforms on a Gantt chart so that we can try to truncate the project timelines that exist in transport, energy and water infrastructure and other areas to yield better delivery. The infrastructure guidelines were an initial reform. Other extensive work is ongoing in the Department and by the unit on changing the process and practice within regulators, which will make a significant difference in improving delivery. We will be able to set them out in the coming weeks.