Government to invest €200bn in infrastructure under updated National Development Plan

€200bn capital review includes record electricity investment, but full list of projects won’t be revealed until October

Public expenditure minister Jack Chambers will unveil the National Development Plan review following Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, after weeks of intensive negotiations. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

The Government will stay tight-lipped until October about projects that will benefit from a review of the National Development Plan, which will see €200bn invested in infrastructure over the next decade.

Public expenditure minister Jack Chambers will unveil the plan following Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, after weeks of intensive negotiations.

Some €200bn will be invested in capital projects over the next decade, with €100bn to be spent over the next five years to address shortfalls in water and energy infrastructure that is stalling the delivery of new homes.

It is understood the plan will commit to an extra €30bn allocation for projects over the next five years, bringing total spending to €100bn; a further €100bn investment in infrastructure between 2030 and 2035; a “ringfenced” €10bn for the electricity grid, water infrastructure, and transport projects, including the Dublin Metrolink; the “largest single investment” in the country’s electricity network; and a “major increase” in defence spending over the next five years. 

The National Development Plan, launched in 2021 in Cork, is being updated due to an influx of cash received in recent months. This includes the €14bn Apple tax windfall following last September’s European Court of Justice ruling, as well as the sale of the State’s remaining AIB shares.

Negotiations were continuing late yesterday, despite suggestions that the plan would be signed off by the Coalition leaders, including Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris, at a pre-lunchtime meeting.

However, meetings were still taking place yesterday evening, with discussions on housing holding up the review being finalised.

Sources stressed that the plan announcement will be a “review” rather than a new plan that will see specific projects and details announced. The new capital allocations for each department will be confirmed by Mr Chambers on Tuesday.

However, details of how each department will use its allocation will not be revealed for another three months, with specific projects not expected to be outlined until budget day in October.

Mr Harris, who is also defence minister, is understood to have secured an increase in defence spending over the next five years.

He will tell Cabinet that the revised plan presents a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform Ireland’s infrastructure” against the backdrop of global uncertainty over trade and tariffs.

He is expected to tell his colleagues that “quicker approval processes and less red tape” will be critical to delivering on the plan to upgrade water, energy, transport, and other infrastructure that will “enable the delivery of new homes, more schools and childcare places, and improved disability services and health outcomes”.

Meanwhile, ministers will be told of the need to “moderate” day-to-day spending ahead of this year’s budget.

The Government will today release the summer economic statement, which will outline the broad parameters of October’s budget.

While Government sources say that there will be money to spend, economic uncertainty means that current spending will need to be managed.

It is expected Mr Harris will tell Cabinet this year’s document will be “different” from previous years, and that decisions made in the budget will “have to focus on protecting jobs and investment during what could be an economically turbulent period ahead”.

Government sources have said the increase in protectionism, rising tariffs, and the “fragmentation of global supply chains” poses a threat to Ireland’s economic model, but that Budget 2026 will see additional public spending and taxation measures delivered.

In last year’s summer statement, the projection for this year’s budget was that there would be around €2bn for additional expenditure and €1.2bn for tax-related changes.

"Government sources said that the focus has been on finding “the right balance between enhancing our public infrastructure, improving public services and maintaining the long-term sustainability of the public finances”.