The National Development Plan

“Ireland is at a crossroads,” said Paul O’Neill, Head of Strategic & Commercial Infrastructure Advisory at KPMG. “The ambition of the plan is welcome - but ambition must now be matched by execution. Without faster progress, we risk missing critical opportunities for housing, transport, energy, and digital development.”

Our infrastructure leaders warn that rising construction costs, planning delays, and labour shortages are already impeding progress on major national priorities.

Matthew King, Head of Asset Management & Major Projects Advisory at KPMG, added: “The planning system remains a major bottleneck, particularly for large-scale energy and transport projects. The capacity of the construction sector is also under pressure — and unless we prioritise delivery and improve coordination, projects will stall.”

Our infrastructure team welcomed the Government’s recent formation of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce but says more needs to be done to focus on high-impact projects and communicate realistic timelines to the public.

According to our Dublin 2040 research, more than 70% of Irish businesses view infrastructure bottlenecks as a barrier to future growth. Yet inflation and fragmented governance structures continue to slow progress.

“The cost of inaction is growing by the day,” says James Delahunt, Head of Energy, KPMG in  Ireland. “Every year of delay translates into lost investment, constrained productivity and missed climate targets. We know how to deliver major infrastructure in this country — we’ve done it before. It’s time to back ourselves again.”

Ireland can take inspiration from other EU countries that have successfully delivered infrastructure at scale, noting the importance of long-term thinking, political consensus, and strong project selection.

“What’s needed now is political bravery,” O’Neill concluded. “To focus on the projects that matter most, to remove obstacles to delivery, and to bring the public on the journey. The NDP must become a living framework for national delivery — not just a spreadsheet of ambition. KPMG is ready to play its part in supporting stakeholders to meaningfully shift the dial on infrastructure delivery”.

The NDP review sets out €102.4 billion in Exchequer capital allocations for the period 2026 – 2030, a 30% increase on the previous allocation for the same period. This uplift reflects the scale of Ireland’s infrastructure needs, and the Government’s commitment to delivery.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage receives the largest exchequer capital allocation at €35.96 billion, of which €28.3 billion allocated to housing delivery and €7.68 billion to water infrastructure.

This is followed by significant allocations to transport, health, and education, reinforcing the focus on enabling infrastructure that supports population growth and economic resilience. The full list of allocations can be seen as follows:

Further to the Infrastructure Guidelines having superseded the Public Spending Code, the NDP review outlines a pivot towards streamlined project deliver, along with delivery excellence.

Central to this reform is the establishment of a dedicated Infrastructure Division within the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, supported by the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce.

These strategic reforms aim to compress delivery timelines, reinforce value-for-money monitoring and ensure capital is deployed where it will deliver the greatest impact. The NDP now places a premium on execution, with a clear mandate to move from planning to delivery at pace. 

Despite the NDP Review’s clear ambition and structured approach, several critical risks must be carefully navigated in order to ensure we deliver infrastructure effectively and efficiently:

• Planning and regulatory bottlenecks: While efforts to streamline planning are ongoing, delays for strategic infrastructure, including in housing, energy and transport, still pose a major risk to timely delivery and the achievement of policy.
• Labour and skills shortages: The construction sector continues to face capacity pressures, exacerbated by international competition for skilled labour and specialist expertise. The NDP Review highlights the need for targeted workforce development and greater use of innovative construction methods such as modern methods of construction.
• Climate and sustainability: While climate alignment is a core objective of the NDP, the Review highlights the need for stronger cross-sectoral integration of climate goals, particularly in transport, housing, and energy. 

The revised NDP represents a strategic response to global uncertainty, with the Government positioning infrastructure as a buffer against external economic shocks. The Government also intends to realise the transformative potential the revised NDP holds for the built environment.

This in turn signals a decade of opportunity and value creation for the private sector, whether local or international — from engineering and construction to advisory, financing, and operation/management.

At KPMG, we welcome the ambition of the plan and the clarity of its allocation and timelines . But ambition must now be matched by focused execution.

The next phase — delivery — will be the true measure of success.