Housing is ‘central focus’ of €30bn plan to boost investment and protect economy

The investment in infrastructure projects including water, electricity, and transport are aimed to boost and protect the Irish economy in the face of global uncertainty. Stock picture: Clare Keogh/Uisce Éireann

The Government will this week roll out a €30bn plan to boost investment and protect the Irish economy in the face of US tariffs and recession fears.

An additional €10bn of this is to be set aside for “specific strategic investment” across water infrastructure, the Dublin Metro project, and the electricity grid.

Public expenditure and reform minister Jack Chambers said the specific details of the “ring-fenced” additional funding will be revealed on Tuesday. 

Coalition leaders met on Saturday to finalise details around updates to the National Development Plan which will ramp up investment in key infrastructure in a move to make Ireland a more attractive place to invest.

Mr Chambers told Cabinet colleagues in recent weeks that investment in infrastructure is the most efficient way of safeguarding the economy, especially if the EU and the US end up in a trade war with tariffs above 10%. 

Senior Coalition sources accept that a 10% tariff is “baked in” but warn that anything above that could have serious impacts on the Irish economy.

Apple tax and AIB shares windfalls

They said that Mr Chambers has argued for windfalls from the Apple tax case and sale of AIB shares to be pumped into addressing infrastructural deficits in the National Development Plan (NDP).

Mr Chambers said this weekend that the Government will be seeking to “provide the headroom” needed by Irish Water when it comes to providing additional housing supply.

“We’ve heard crystal clear the issues around the funding deficit which exists for Uisce Éireann, and the absolute need if we want to ramp up housing supply to address the concerns nationwide around water and wastewater infrastructure,” he told RTÉ’s News at One.

The “whole central focus” of this review in the NDP is housing supply and the infrastructure which supports it, he added.

There will also be a “major uplift in our commitment to public transport, to roads projects and active travel”, according to Mr Chambers.

An additional €10bn of the extra €30bn investment is to be set aside for 'specific strategic investment' including Dublin Metro. 

However, Government also needs to “ensure that in regions across our country, whether it’s in the West or the South-West or elsewhere, that roads projects, which have been on the table for many years, are progressed”, he added.

“That’s fundamental to providing balanced regional development, addressing issues around road safety and ensuring we’ve got connectivity to our regions in the West of Ireland and elsewhere.”

Extra money will be allocated in the NDP to defence spending, Mr Chambers confirmed. He rejected the idea that spending on other areas would be limited as a result.

“We can’t ignore serious infrastructure deficits in water and energy and transport and housing, and that’s why they’re being prioritised around the overall allocation,” he said.

The Government will also this week outline its summer economic statement, which will give a broad outline of the amount of money available both in this year’s budget and over the next number of years in capital spending.

Meanwhile, part of the Government’s response to tariffs will include a new fund to be announced by enterprise minister Peter Burke, aiming to help companies most impacted by tariffs to cope with increases in costs due to the Trump administration’s tariffs.