Government to ask civil servants to take more risks to progress critical infrastructure projects

It means that public servants would be empowered to purchase land for the State before final approval for a project has been secured

Minister for public expenditure Jack Chambers will tell ministers that a 'culture of risk aversion' has emerged across the public sector, driven largely by concerns regarding legal challenges, planning, and consenting complexity, reputational risk, and cost escalation. Picture: Conor McCabe Photography

Civil servants will be given the green light to take on increased risks in a bid to get more homes, energy facilities, public transport projects and water plants delivered, under new Government reforms.

Public expenditure and infrastructure minister Jack Chambers will outline to Cabinet today a new "risk appetite statement" for critical infrastructure.

This means that public servants would be empowered to make moves such as the purchase of land before final approval for a project has been secured, or accepting risk of litigation in a project, provided there is strong governance in place.

Mr Chambers will tell ministers that a "culture of risk aversion" has emerged across the public sector, driven largely by concerns regarding legal challenges, planning, and consenting complexity, reputational risk, and cost escalation.

There is now a view in Government that excessive caution is contributing to projects being delayed or more expensive, and that critical infrastructure, particularly in sectors such as water, transport and energy, is not being delivered quickly enough.

Minister Chambers will tell Cabinet the new approach to risk recognises that, in some cases, investments may be made that do not ultimately proceed or do not deliver all intended benefits, but that this may still be justified if it supports faster delivery across the wider system as a whole.

The statement also expressly commits to supporting officials who "take a more balanced and proportionate approach to risk in pursuit of faster delivery of critical infrastructure".

Speaking in May, Mr Chambers said he would be "asking the public service to take more risks to match our ambition in government".

He added: "We want to get things done, we want to build much greater risk appetite in how we deliver public services, but also delivering the infrastructure and the housing."

Also at Cabinet, further education minister James Lawless is expected to update Government on the conclusion of the Public Service Apprenticeship Plan (2023–2025) and the next phase of apprenticeship expansion across the public service.

While Mr Lawless will say that the plan "delivered significant growth and broadened apprenticeship opportunities beyond traditional craft roles", its target of 750 annual registrations by 2025 was not achieved, with 566 places being created.

• Paul Hosford is deputy political editor of the Irish Examiner