Housing delivery is the centrepiece of the National Development Plan, boosting spending on housing infrastructure by over €40 billion over the next five years to address the chronic shortage of new homes.
Excluding water, housing investment will be around €36 billion.
€2 billion in equity funding is being provided to Uisce Éireann to enable the delivery of 300,000 additional homes between 2026 and 2030, with a further €2.5bn provided for large-scale water projects over the period.
Meanwhile, €3.5bn is earmarked for electricity services and the energy grid.
Funds will be invested in areas such as water supplies, sewage connections, as well as the grid – all of which are key roadblocks holding back housing delivery.
In Dublin, local authorities have warned they may not be able to give planning for new homes in coming years, unless such deficits are addressed.
However, despite the significant investment, housing consultant and former CEO with Clúid Housing Fiona Cormican said that “unless we radically change the way we do things, we’re not going to be able to spend that money in the time (2026-2030).”
“When I say radically change the way we do things, we are very tied up,” she said.
“The whole system is tied up in bureaucracy, in low-level risk management, worrying about ticking boxes, procurement regulation an so.”
“Yes we have to be diligent with public money, however, if we don’t allow people to make decisions and to move at a pace, we will not be able to spend this money and what money we do spend may not be spent wisely,” Ms Cormican added.
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A lack of labour in the construction sector has been raised as a potential barrier to overcoming these infrastructure shortfalls.
However, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has said the workforce capacity is in place to meet the requirements of the National Development Plan.
CIF Director-General Hubert Fitzpatrick said: “If we look at patterns over the last couple of years, we see the domestic side of the industry not growing at the same pace as the export side.
“We’ve seen many construction companies actually export labour abroad where they’re able to see sight of a pipeline of projects.
“With the publication of the plan today and the implementation of projects in a timely manner, that will enable the industry to plan ahead, and ensure it has the resources to deliver and get on with delivering the key infrastructure that this country needs in order to accommodate the growing housing crisis that we currently have in the country.”
