Changes due within weeks to the State’s planning laws to quicken the construction of large projects are “more important” than the spending talks with Cabinet ministers in advance of next week’s budget, the Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said, addressing a British-Irish Chamber of Commerce conference.
Promising the most ambitious reforms “seen for decades”, the Minister said they would result in “peeling back a lot of the guidance, the public administration which is getting in the way of delivery”.
“Ultimately, for me, making the case for reform is more important than the discussion that we have about who gets what next Tuesday in terms of Budget 2026,” Mr Chambers said.
Narrow interests by individuals “are blocking broader social and economic objectives”, he said, while administrative hurdles faced by State planners and councils often do not “add value and only adds time and delays”.
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Reforms “will yield long-term prosperity and growth for Ireland”, he said, “protecting our enterprise backbone and building the opportunities that are there at a point of real economic strength, and resilience”.
The National Development Plan published this year lays out €275 billion in public capital spending up to 2035, “the largest capital investment in the history of the State and reflects the scale of ambition we must bring economy”.
Mr Chambers added the Government will soon lay out detailed plans that will sequence construction, better manage construction capacity and avoid bottlenecks.
“Since taking up my new role, I’ve been very clear. Investment alone and decisions on who gets what and where is really not the issue. It’s about moving the infrastructure delivery dial.
“It is actually more about reform, and urgently reforming how we deliver, how our processes are designed and how endless process is getting in the way of real delivery,” the Minister continued.
“The Irish State must get back to a point where it is delivering infrastructure efficiently, but we cannot do this alone. Private sector investment, including from international partners, will be essential,” he said, noting that as much as €50 billion will be needed to build 50,000 homes.
Saying that the budget negotiations with some Cabinet ministers are “particularly challenging”, Mr Chambers said current expenditure has increased by 45 per cent in the last five years.
“That’s not a sustainable fiscal path for the next five.”
Paying tribute to the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce’s work, the Minister for Finance said UK/Irish trade supports 600,000 jobs and the relationship between the two countries has “weathered many challenges and evolved through change”.
Both are countries going through a time of “profound” and fast global change: “We are living through a period of rapid transformation, change on a scale that has not been witnessed in recent times.”
