Key Points
- Government announcement of €102.4bn for infrastructure under the National Development Plan (NDP) Review 2025.
- The WDC welcomes commitment in NDP Review to ensuring balanced regional development and recognition of this focus as a ‘key driver of capital need’, but it does not provide detail on how the capital spend will achieve this balance.
- Announced allocations for key areas present opportunity to address infrastructure deficit in the Western Region and accelerate regional development.
- A detailed list of projects intended for infrastructure is required to project the potential for growth in the Region and clearly set out the Government’s approach to regional development under the revised NDP.
Introduction
The Government has announced €102.4bn funding to 2030 under the National Development Plan Review 2025, which will provide the national investment framework for 2026 to 2035.
The NDP is important for addressing key infrastructure focuses, such as transport, energy, housing and enterprise – amongst others – and sits alongside the National Planning Framework (NPF) to make up the overarching development strategy, Project Ireland 2040.
In yesterday’s announcement, the Government presented its plan for investment in infrastructure across the State. The revised NDP includes an increased allocation of €34bn (of which €10bn represents strategic equity releases) and presents the largest capital investment plan in the history of the State. The announcement follows IMF reporting earlier this month that Ireland currently lags its international peers in relation to infrastructure stock and spending efficiency.
The WDC welcomes commitment in the NDP Review to ‘ensuring balanced regional development’ and supporting businesses and communities across all of Ireland. The Review notes that the NPF aims for a 50:50 distribution of growth between the ‘Eastern and Midlands Region and the Southern and Northern and Western regions combined’ and references regional development as a ‘key driver of capital need’. While recognition of the negative impact of imbalanced regional development is constructive, the way in which investment is provided for specific projects through this combined 50:50 approach will be important for harnessing the potential for growth in the Region. This includes clarity on whether the split refers to equal division of spending or of projected growth between the Eastern and Midlands region and combined Northern and Western and Southern regions, as well as the way in which investment will be allocated between the Northern and Western and Southern regions. The WDC has long advocated for the need to address infrastructure deficits in the Western Region to support balanced regional development, and our submission to the NDP Review consultation can be found here.
While the allocations announced under the NDP Review present an opportunity to accelerate investment in regional and rural areas and support regional growth and development in the west and north west, it is not clear how much of the spend will be allocated to the region. Previous capital investment has been significantly lower in the west and north west, and this must change if the NDP is to be truly transformative. It is expected that list of projects included in the revised NDP will not be available until the announcement of Budget 2026 in October, and it is this detail which will provide further context for the Government’s approach to regional development under the revised NDP for 2026 to 2035.
In this blog post I briefly review the overarching allocations announced in relation to key infrastructure areas in the Western Region.
Transport
€22.33bn for transport has been announced. The NDP Review states that this will include extending public transport, improving road networks and road safety, promoting electrification and supporting active travel and greenways. As stated in our submission to the NDP Review consultation, the WDC strongly advocates for investment in transport infrastructure in the region. While references to the areas of transport the investment allocation will support are welcome, detail on where this investment will be directed to is crucial. It is notable that the significant Dublin Metrolink project has been allocated a ring-fenced €2bn, while no regional projects have been specified. Investment in transport infrastructure is critical to supporting economic growth and population growth in the Western Region, and development of transport networks must enhance connectivity within and from and from the region.
Energy
€3.5bn for electricity services and the grid, with €1.5bn going to ESB Networks and €2bn to EirGrid respectively. The NDP Review states that Government is increasing its equity shareholdings of both providers to provide for regulatory requirements and to deliver on housing targets. Investment in energy infrastructure is much-need in the Western Region, particularly with regard to electricity generation and transmission (including renewable energy). This detail is currently absent from the NDP Review and must be included as a focus area for investment for 2026 to 2035. Likewise, as the investment is through an equity increase it is not clear whether the Government will drive specific investments to project locations, or if this will be at the discretion of the transmission system operator (TSO), distribution system operator (DSO) and Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) regulation.
Housing & Water Services
€36bn for housing, which includes €7.68bn for water infrastructure. Housing was one of the largest allocation areas under the revised NDP and delivery of housing is a key focus across many parts of the country, including in the Western Region. A recent WDC blogpost notes that, while there has been some progress around housing completions and commencements across the region, housing development is not happening at the level that is needed either to meet current demand or provide for the kind of population growth and regional re-balancing which is desirable from a regional development perspective. Targeted intervention on housing delivery across multiple fronts is required to address this trend and support population growth in the region.
Regarding water, it has been highlighted by Government that funding will be allocated to different aspects of water services and treatment. This includes water infrastructure in relation to housing delivery and for large-scale projects. The NDP Review notes that a further €2bn will be provided to Uisce Éireann in 2025 and €2.5bn for delivery of larger- and smaller-scale projects between 2026 and 2030. As noted in our NDP submission, this must include investment in water supplies to houses and businesses, and to the management of the environmental water quality in the Western Region. Towns and villages where untreated wastewater has been identified by the EPA (of which 9 were in the Western Region in 2023) should be prioritised, given the environmental consequences they pose for those areas.
Enterprise
€3.68bn has been announced for enterprise, tourism and employment broadly. It has been noted that this funding will enable ‘transformative enterprise, innovation and tourism programmes through to 2030’, including supports for the competitiveness and productivity of businesses across every region. Again, there is a lack of clarity about where this will be spent. It is important that there is a focus on the types of enterprises in less developed regions to help them innovate and address the particular barriers they face. Enterprises based in the Western Region should be supported to be innovative and competitive, to increase sustainable employment in its rural and urban areas. Remote working and enterprise hubs are important for supporting sustainable employment in the region, and there should be continued investment in remote working infrastructure through the Connected Hubs network to support regional employment.
Health & Education
€9.25bn for health, to provide ‘equitable’ health services around the country. As noted in our submission to the NDP consultation, investment should be made to support the design and delivery of health services in accessible locations for those living in the Region. Investment should ensure that services are provided at key locations in the region, and the provision of connected and accessible transport opportunities must be integral to service provision. Infrastructure to improve the accessibility of centres of excellence is essential, along with a clear understanding of those issues when such centres are designated.
€4.55bn for further and higher education has been allocated to a new national research programme, as well as upgrades to Ireland’s further and higher education infrastructure and student accommodation. The growth of students attending third-level institutions in the Western Region indicates that there is capacity and the potential for further development in this area. Investment should support the development of infrastructure and facilities to enable Technical Universities (TUs) in the region to further develop their research capacity.
Conclusion – Ensuring Balanced Regional Development under the revised NDP
As set out in the sections above, an ambitious approach to addressing infrastructural deficits in the Western Region is crucial for supporting regional development in the west and north west. Increases to overarching allocations to investment in areas such as transport, energy, housing and enterprise are positive, but the way in which development in those areas is linked and how they relate to one another will be important for realising balanced regional development.
As noted, the NDP Review 2025 does not include much-needed detail on how funding will be allocated under each area of infrastructure. Additional detail on which projects will receive investment is crucial to project the potential for growth and clearly set out the Government’s plan for regional development in the Western Region over the next decade.
In addition to investment allocations, ensuring practical challenges which limit or delay the development of infrastructure are addressed is important to ensuring the NDP can deliver as intended. A recent report from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery identified workforce capacity, multi-annual funding to provide certainty and extensive regulatory processes as key issues which often impede the delivery of infrastructure. The Government has advised as part of its NDP review that planning ‘fast-tracking’ is being considered for key national infrastructure projects.
A complete list of infrastructure projects located in the Western Region in the revised Plan will provide further context on how the NDP will approach the delivery of infrastructure and regional development for 2026 to 2035. The WDC looks forward to the publication of the list of projects included under the revised NDP and will provide further analysis of this detail when it is available.
Frances Hague
