Houses, water, health and Metrolink: The key points from the National Development Plan
The announcement, made at Government Buildings by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and independent TD Seán Canney, was made at Government Buildings this afternoon.
The NDP is the government's long-term plan for what large-scale infrastructure projects will be needed in Ireland over the next five to ten years. This iteration covers the period up to 2035 and sets out a total investment of €275.4 billion.
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Every few years, the development plans are re-worked and reviewed by governments to ensure there are plans in place to meet things like housing needs to account for Ireland's growing population. The plans also cover demands on public transport and roads and whether people have adequate health services now and into the future.
The plans are often ambitious and sometimes described as 'wish lists' by ministers.
However, under the current government, ministers were instructed to submit projects that could be delivered in the short- to medium-term, rather than ideas that might never see the light of day (as has been the case in the past).
There are also concerns that Ireland is playing catch-up with the rest of Europe when it comes to infrastructure, which is why a key focus in this NDP is
housing
, along with
water infrastructure
and Ireland's
energy sector
.
So, what's in it?
Housing
The government plans to invest
€35.955 billion
in housing from 2026 to 2030.
€28.275 billion
of this has been assigned to housing itself and
€7.680 billion
to water infrastructure.
Describing housing as the 'most critical priority' for the Government, the Taoiseach outlined a target of 300,000 new homes.
The 300,000 includes privately developed homes and the figure reaffirms the target contained in the Programme for Government.
Of those new homes the Government has set a target of delivering an annual average of 12,000 new build social housing units by 2030.
Water (inc sewerage, water services)
Including funding from outside today's NDP allocation, a total of
€12 billion
has been released and earmarked specifically for critical water infrastructure investment.
Martin said that increased investment in water facilities is 'critical' to meeting demand for more infrastructure.
'This is critical to meet the heightened pace of demand for infrastructure due to increased economic growth and will support new house building industrial development and regional growth,' Martin said.
The government's ability to meet its housing targets has been called into doubt by economists who have raised concerns about the state's ability to provide the infrastructure needed to serve housing developments, most notably water.
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Roads, houses and water: Ireland's biggest ever infrastructure plan to be announced today
Members of the media at today's annnouncement.
Eamonn Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
Eamonn Farrell / © RollingNews.ie / © RollingNews.ie
Transport (roads, public transport)
The government plans to invest
€24.33 billion
in transport between 2026 and 2030.
This includes €2 billion from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund (ICNF) that is being allocated to 'low-carbon transportation' projects – in particular, the
MetroLink underground line for Dublin
.
The MetroLink would see an underground rail line running between the north and south of Co Dublin, with stops in the suburbs, the city centre and at Dublin Airport. An underground rail line for Dublin was first proposed in a government plan in 2005 but was shelved for several years during the recession. It's now expected that construction
may not begin until at least 2028
.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the total investment will go to 'extending public transport, improving road networks and road safety, promoting electrification and supporting active travel and greenways'.
Health
The health service is to receive
€9.25 in infrastructure investment
under the new National Development plan from 2026 through to 2030.
In 2021 just €5.7 bn was committed to spending on healthcare infrastructure for 2021-2025.
The Government said that this 'substantially enhanced' provision will support the delivery of 'equitable' health services around the country.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has sought funding for further work on the introduction of
an electronic health record
and other digitalisation projects, which was also a key focus for the last NDP.
The proposed Metrolink project.
Metrolink.ie
Metrolink.ie
Climate and energy
Exchequer funding of
€5.6 billion
has been earmarked for infrastructure spending by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.
The government is increasing its equity shareholdings in ESB and EirGrid to the value of €2 billion and €1.5 billion with a view to enabling the companies to 'significantly increase capital investment to expand electricity transmission and distribution network infrastructure'.
'Even though there are many countries internationally who are pushing to move in the opposite direction, we believe that the climate crisis is acute and addressing it must remain a priority,' the Taoiseach said.
Martin said expanded investment in energy infrastructure and diversifying sources of energy are 'critical to our national security and to realising the enormous potential AI to future economic development'.
Increased investment in energy infrastructure is also an important part of the government's plans to address the housing crisis, Martin said.
Reporting by Christina Finn, Daragh Brophy, Lauren Boland, Eoghan Dalton, David MacRedmond and Eimer McAuley.
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