Ireland faces significant infrastructure deficits across housing, energy, water and public transport, but funding is not the barrier. Instead, long-standing bottlenecks in planning, regulation and delivery continue to slow progress.
Despite the introduction of new planning legislation and the publication of the Government’s Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan, significant barriers to infrastructure delivery remain in the immediate term.
The primary constraints slowing infrastructure delivery in the State are regulatory delays, grid capacity limitations and a shortage of skilled labour, says James Delahunt, partner, corporate finance, head of energy and natural resources, KPMG in Ireland.
“While significant resources, including a €275 billion investment under the National Development Plan (NDP), are allocated for infrastructure, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council estimates a shortage of 80,000 construction and infrastructure workers, which poses a serious threat to achieving the NDP’s ambitious targets.
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“Bureaucratic hurdles and financial constraints also impede progress, emphasising the need for streamlined policies and agile decision making to foster the efficient delivery of major projects.”
The interconnected issues of planning delays, procurement challenges, skills shortages, and capacity constraints are crucial to understanding the Republic’s infrastructure challenges, says Delahunt. “Planning delays, compounded by bureaucratic hurdles and financial limitations, significantly hinder project initiation and completion.
“Moreover, while the Economic and Social Research Institute emphasises the labour shortage, the Construction Industry Federation argues that inefficiencies in utilising existing talent and navigating the regulatory landscape are more pressing issues. Therefore, a comprehensive approach is needed to address these systemic challenges.”
The real capacity constraints being experienced and reported by large construction firms are related to planning and legal issues, delays to enabling infrastructure, lack of multiannual funding to support project pipelines and the unattractiveness of public procurement, says Andrew Brownlee, chief executive of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF). “This undermines industry confidence, business continuity and certainty.
“Over 60 per cent of the Top 50 Irish Contractors are exporting their construction services to the UK, Scandinavia, central and southern Europe, US and Canada, says Brownlee. “Between 2024 and 2025 there was a 33 per cent increase in exports compared to just an 8 per cent increase in domestic business.”
The Planning and Development Bill 2024 aims to enhance infrastructure delivery timelines by enabling faster decision making and reducing bureaucratic red tape, says Delahunt. “Key features include streamlined assessments and improved regulatory frameworks. However, for the Bill to be effective, it must address systemic challenges like grid capacity and skilled labour shortages.
“Additionally, public engagement is vital to ensure community support. While the legislation holds promise, meaningful progress will rely on a multifaceted approach that goes beyond mere legislative changes.”
Brownlee says there is a lot that can be done to accelerate the delivery of public infrastructure. “First, the centralisation of government communication, co-ordination and prioritisation of multiannual infrastructure investment is essential to provide certainty for Irish construction firms.
“Second, there is a need for clear commitments to multiannual investment and a project pipeline. This then provides business continuity and confidence to invest in innovation and people, which in turn drives greater productivity.”
Additionally, inefficient and misaligned planning and consents must be addressed. “To speed up the delivery of public energy, water and wastewater infrastructure in Ireland, several consents and exemptions from planning and regulations could be considered, like ensuring that consent processes run concurrently rather than sequentially,” says Brownlee.
