“Narrow interest” planning objectors are blocking the roll-out of vital infrastructure, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has claimed.
In an address to the Dublin Economics Workshop, Mr Chambers hit out at Ireland’s objection culture and the risk it posed to the State.
“In many instances we have narrow, individual objectors seriously undermining the broader economic and social objectives,” Mr Chambers said.
“We, as a Government ... have people wanting us to deliver homes, wanting us to deliver infrastructure and unfortunately in some instances the narrow interests are superseding that,” he said.
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As a result, the planning system needed “continuous” reform.
The recent Planning and Development Act 2024 was aimed at reducing roadblocks within the planning system, including the ease with which individuals and groups could stall projects through the judicial review process.
Mr Chambers acknowledged that planning decision times had deteriorated, frustrating the deployment of infrastructure.
“We know that across three clear areas of infrastructure delivery, it’s nearly double the time that it was 10-15 years ago whether it’s in new roads, new waste water treatment plants or the delivery of (electricity) substations,” he said.
Minister Chambers said the “efficient delivery” of outputs was a key challenge for the State and a key focus of the current Government.
He said he would publish “a comprehensive set of reforms and actions” designed to overcome these planning and construction barriers after the budget.
He said the Coalition had agreed the largest ever capital investment plan in the history of the State via the revised National Development Plan (NDP), which aims to invest €102 billion in infrastructure out to 2030.
Mr Chambers said the Irish economy was facing an uncertain international environment but facing it from “a really strong position”.
“The Irish economy has been continually resilient in the face of a serious of challenges in recent years ... which has allowed for continued investment in public services and infrastructure,” he said
Budget 2026 would provide for an additional €7.9 billion in spending next year, of which €5.9 billion would be current expenditure and €2 billion in capital expenditure, he said.
Minister Chambers claimed the spending package strikes “the right balance between enhancing our public infrastructure, creating space for investment, also ensuring we manage the growth in demand in terms of public services and ensuring we have long term sustainability in terms of the public finances”.
Director of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) Martina Lawless said Ireland’s infrastructural challenge was being driven by the rapid jump in the State’s population, which has risen by 40 per cent since 2000.
The growth, driven principally by net migration, was unmatched anywhere in Europe, she said.
Department of Enterprise chief economist Dermot Coates highlighted Ireland’s huge regulatory ecosystem, which contains more than 100 separate bodies as a potential stumbling block.
