2026-02-12

13. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on the legislative and non-legislative progress being made to implement the measures recommended in the accelerating infrastructure action plan. [9939/26]

28. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the initiatives his Department is undertaking to speed up the delivery of infrastructure projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11082/26]

61. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the immediate actions that will be taken by his Department to accelerate delivery of critical infrastructure outlined in the accelerating infrastructure action plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10694/26]

77. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation whether performance indicators or delivery targets have been established for the infrastructure division and the accelerating infrastructure task force; if these metrics will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10997/26]

83. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the reforms that will be introduced in his Department to deliver on infrastructure promises made in the accelerating infrastructure action plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10693/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13, 28, 61, 77 and 83 together. My Department will be managing the monitoring and reporting on delivery of the actions in the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan, which will be led within the infrastructure division. The action plan details 30 headline actions for delivery by quarter and sets target outputs and outcomes to be achieved. All lead Departments have continued to engage over recent weeks and days to provide an update on what is meant to be delivered for quarter 4, 2025 and quarter 1, 2026 and the important structural changes within their sectors to aid the delivery of the 30 actions. All actions required for delivery in 2025 have been completed. Some of the key deliverables include the publication of the NDP review 2025 and the subsequent publication of all sectoral plans. We have also had a wider step-change in investment in the water, transport energy and sectors. The sectoral plans detail over 200 specific projects that are being prioritised, with a particular focus on projects going to tender and construction in 2026 and 2027. This is with the specific aim of providing construction sector certainty on the pipeline. Government consultation on the scale of fees for environmental judicial reviews is being led by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment which will, in effect, limit the cost that the State pays in environmental judicial reviews. The first meeting has been held of the new joint utilities and transport clearing house, which will ensure a shared understanding and better co-ordination between the utilities and transport sectors on infrastructure delivery. We have the heads of Bill being brought to put the judicial review process on a statutory footing by my colleague, the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, in January. At this point, good progress is noted for actions required for delivery in quarter 1. Some of the progress areas include the following. The public consultation process on proposed scale of fees closed on 15 January 2026. Work on the critical infrastructure Bill is progressing in terms of drafting and input by the Attorney General, which is happening on a weekly basis. The publication of a general scheme in March has been confirmed in the Government's published priority legislative agenda. A high-level group on EU policy and the European co-ordinators network has been used to monitor legislation and regulations that may impact on infrastructure delivery. A meeting of this group took place on 21 January. As committed under action 23, reforms to the infrastructure guidelines were brought by me to the Government for approval this week. These key reforms relate to higher thresholds for major projects, the discontinuation of the external assurance process and the reduced approval requirements prior to issue to try to simplify the approval steps. The Government has also approved an enhanced role for the National Development Finance Agency to support infrastructure delivery and key Exchequer funded projects. A circular outlining how Departments may avail of this support will be published. There has been a meeting of the joint utilities and transport clearing house which is continuing in quarter 1, 2026. My Department is also engaging with bodies to map structures and identify the key specific administrative constraints to effective co-ordination and delivery. There is also work ongoing on revised structures within the construction sector group to advise on actions detailed in the December report on how we can improve further productivity and innovation within the construction sector. The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, and I will be advancing procurement reforms to further enhance the attractiveness of public sector construction. My colleague, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Lawless, and his Department have published and are working on a critical skills needs assessment for the construction sector. This sets out the wider delivery of increased labour force with the capital investment programme that we have. At this point, we have delivered what we said we would in quarter 4 of last year and we are working on continuing to build momentum in quarter 1 and beyond this year.

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive answer. I want to go back to what he said to Deputy John Connolly in relation to gate 2. I welcome the announcement that it will no longer need ministerial approval. The Minister said it did not add value, but added only time. How much time will this actually save? Is it four weeks, eight weeks or 20 weeks? This is an important point to highlight. Whether there is ministerial approval or not gets lost in translation for the person at home, whereas if we hear a solid number or estimate of the time that will be saved, it will send out a very positive message.

We are essentially reducing the number of approval steps from three to two. The critical approval role of a Minister is after the preliminary business case. It is about putting discipline on how a preliminary business case is designed. In many instances, the administrative timelines taken for preliminary business cases are far too excessive. We are trying to put much greater discipline on that in terms of the wider project design and how a preliminary business case is built up. Even though political direction may have been given after the preliminary business case, there was an interim approval step which varied across Departments. Again, this will just simplify what is required in terms of the approval stop process. The Minister sets the direction post the preliminary business case which justifies why a project is needed following economic appraisal and assessment. The final decision of a Minister is post the tendering process where the tenders received align with the objectives set out in a preliminary business case. The critical involvement of a Minister is in those two areas. This median step only added time. If a Minister gives a direction at the preliminary business case, the outworking of that is to see the outcome of a tender and whether it meets the value requirements and the delivery that is set out in terms of the respective project. The biggest time saving from the changes I am making in the infrastructure guidelines is on the removal of the external assurance gate. The average time taken on that is about 20 weeks. Some take months longer than that, while others take a little less time. This was a duplicate step and the advice I received was that the value proposition involved is questionable in terms of the time that it took. That is being removed entirely, in part to try to simplify the wider delivery process.

My understanding is that 17 of the task action points set out for quarter 1 sit with the Minister's Department and nine of those, if not progressed, cannot go any further. Has the Minister already identified any pinch points that could delay this progress and, if so, how are they going to be addressed?

We engage daily with the infrastructure team in the Department and the infrastructure division. According to the latest update, everything has been delivered in quarter 4 and we are on track with respect to the actions set for quarter 1 of this year. We are working in parallel to ensure steps or actions that are required in quarters 2 and 3 are being worked on as well if they have timelines in the middle of the year or later on in this year. Right now, there is progress across the respective areas. Over the last number of weeks, we have brought different memorandums to the Government in respect of various reforms to infrastructure delivery, such as the National Development Finance Agency, the reforms to the infrastructure guidelines and the conclusion of the sectoral investment plans, all of which aim to build momentum in terms of infrastructure delivery in the economy. We will work on the critical pieces, ensuring the continued work on the critical infrastructure Bill advances. The intention is to bring the scheme to Government in March, which is a really important piece on providing legislative backing for the acceleration of infrastructure in the State. That is on track as well.

Deputy Butterly is next on the list with parliamentary question No. 70. Does she want to take it? This is the last question for the Department. If she does not want to take it, that is okay.

May I ask a further follow-up question?

For question No. 70 or this one?

A follow-up on this one. It would probably follow on more fluently, if the Minister is so willing.

Deputy Butterly has already used her time and I cannot allow extra time. Does Deputy Butterly want to take parliamentary question No. 70? She does not want to take it. That brings an end to questions to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.