'The bigger picture'
Government unveils revised National Development Plan
Housing, energy, water and transport projects are the core focus of the government's flagship infrastructure investment plan set to be rolled out over the next five years. Approximately €30bn of the overall package for this revised National Development Plan 2026-30 is new funding, partially sourced from the Apple tax settlement and the sale of AIB shares.
The updated NDP sets out €275.4bn in capital investment to 2035, including €202.4bn in exchequer voted capital. Of this, €102.4bn is allocated to departments for 2026–2030. An additional €10bn in equity funding supports major projects in water, energy, and transport. This includes €3.5bn for ESB and Eirgrid in 2025, €4.5bn for Uisce Éireann to 2030, and €2bn from the ICNF for low-carbon transport such as MetroLink.
The headline spending was confirmed at a press conference hosted by An Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the Tainaiste Simon Harris on Tuesday. Post-announcement, the expectation shifts to October's Budget.
“This is about the bigger picture,” Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan, Brendan Smith, told The Anglo-Celt this week.
Deputy Smith expects Cavan to benefit substantially over the coming years from the unprecedented expenditure proposed across the board.
Progressing the Virginia N3 Bypass, laying foundations to the planned Regional Sports Campus, the new Cavan Institute campus, and the major investment proposed at Cavan General Hospital are just some of the infrastructural projects in the pipeline.
“Allowing departments to know what funding they have enables better planning. We all know if a project is approved in 2025, it may not go to construction until 2026 or 2027, so there has to be forward thinking, to know what Capital funding is available to deliver these projects,” explained Deputy Smith.
“But it's not just about big projects either. Our non-national road network will benefit, we need better yearly allocations to councils. In education, we have new schools and extensions being built. Cavan Institute, at pre-tender, is another major project that'll need funding. It'll be a beneficiary I'm sure. Cavan General Hospital and all that's happening there will be funded under this capital plan as well. There are lots of projects shovel ready, ready to get the go ahead as well. Another area I'd personally like to see major investment put in, too, is in disability services and I know work is being done by the HSE on that front locally as well.”
Housing
Aontú's Sarah O'Reilly believes it is important that the government accelerates housing delivery across Ireland, and this will be done by ensuring that essential infrastructure- particularly in water and energy- is in place to support rapid.
The same, she indicates, will benefit potential economic development with more serviced local enterprise sites needed.
“Capacity isn't there at the moment to sustain the development that needs to happen,” says Sen O'Reilly, indicating that by investing to unpick the issues around will naturally lead to an unlocking of opportunities in other sectors.
“Especially for housing. Right now you could build a house and still not get connected to the grid. That has to change. Investment in the ESB, investment in Irish Water, we need to remove the blockages that prevent forward planning from happening. Not to mention roads. It is something that makes us less attractive than other counties.”