Shane Dempsey: Infrastructure Projects to watch out for in 2026

This was a long overdue attempt to get on the “nice list” with constituencies across the country that are suffering from a lack of housing and infrastructure gaps, particularly in water, transport and energy. The problem facing the Government is that many of these measures will take years to implement and even longer for people to reap the economic and social benefits.

So how will the Government and indeed the electorate know if we are making progress? The following 10 projects should be considered a bellwether for an improved delivery mechanism for critical infrastructure and housing delivery.

Not all need to be completed, or even fully under construction, but momentum must be visible. In some cases, the Government will have to “package” prosaic bureaucracy as significant while projects progress through the byzantine decision-making and legal system involved.

Each of these projects matters for a different reason, but all are vital for the same underlying one: quality of life and economic resilience.

Many are essential for us to simply catch up with the demands of our expanding population, most notably the water and housing projects. Some, like Bremore Port, are a bet that Ireland will increase international trade…no certainty in the choppier waters we have experienced since Donald Trump’s re-election.

It’s worth noting that delivering these projects will challenge our climate action goals, and all were conceived well before AI or war in Europe emerged.

The 10 projects to watch in 2026:

Dublin’s MetroLink (estimated at €10-13bn)

MetroLink has become more than a transport project. It is a test of Ireland’s ability to deliver complex urban infrastructure. It will cleave through the political landscape of many future governments.

Connecting Swords, Dublin Airport and the city centre, it addresses congestion, labour mobility and climate goals in a single corridor. The project has faced a long planning and procurement journey, and 2026 must be the year when that preparatory phase gives way decisively to delivery.

The Government will attempt to introduce a higher threshold for judicial reviews and world-class consultation towards the procurement process proper. Expect heated political debate at this stage as the estimated “costs” of the project will become more apparent. The Coalition will have to counter with the many societal and economic benefits of the project.

The Dart+ programme (€3bn)

The DART+ programme for the Greater Dublin Area is equally transformative. By electrifying and expanding the existing rail network, it increases capacity, reliability and comfort for hundreds of thousands of daily commuters. Its benefits accrue quietly but relentlessly: shorter journeys, more predictable travel and less crowding.

The challenge here has not been controversy, but co-ordination across rolling stock, power supply, stations and planning consents. Progress this year will signal that incremental complexity is being mastered.

Cork’s commuter rail expansion and wider regional rail upgrades (€1.5bn)

The National Planning Framework (NPF) aims to have a population growth rate in the rest of the country to be twice that of the Greater Dublin Area. Cork and Limerick will have to attract, retain and sustain the vast majority of this by generating sufficient economic growth up to 2040. Turning Cork and Limerick into a connected region through rail connectivity will underpin the required housing delivery, labour access and urban regeneration required. Hopefully the region will hear the trains a-coming this year.

BusConnects (not including associated national road upgrades, €3.3bn)

The pipeline for major road expansion in Ireland is incredibly sparse despite a large allocation of exchequer funding. BusConnects and national road upgrades are the most visible to the public and progress on essential road upgrades has been very slow.

Expect progress on the M28 from Cork to Ringaskiddy, bypasses like Slane and, of course, Adare. Adare has the potential to become an exemplar of how expeditiously infrastructure can be delivered generally, not just when an international sporting event such as the Ryder Cup is imminent. If the Government hopes for an early win to show progress, this would be an easy starter.

Housing-enabling infrastructure, including utilities and servicing (€36bn)

The political system now understands that solving housing means first solving infrastructure. The Government’s €11.22bn investment in 2026 will not translate into homes without significantly increased water, wastewater and electricity grid resilience.

If we’re making progress, keep an eye on commencements, not just planning permission granted. The latter spiked last year, but never translated into commencements. We will need to see a higher proportion of permissions moving to commencement within a six-month period.

This year, the Land Development Agency will continue to grow in importance and most likely assume the mantle as the biggest developer in the State by 2028. The Government will be watching with bated breath to see if tax measures in Budget 2026 kickstart apartment building in Dublin and Cork, reigniting the political debate on “funds”.

Greater Dublin Drainage and strategic wastewater upgrades (€1.5bn)

This was on again, off again, on again in 2025. The project removes the single biggest barrier to housing delivery in the Greater Dublin Area, and the Government’s housing aspirations are entirely dependent on its progress.

It is plumbing with life altering-societal, economic and environmental consequences. If it doesn’t happen, young people will continue to emigrate or live at home, Ireland will miss its climate-change targets and face fines, and economic growth will be stymied.

Procurement is scheduled to begin next month, and if we miss this expect the housing pipeline to become blocked in the region. Also watch out for progress in modernising the budgetary planning processes for Úisce Eireann: no organisation managing a multi-billion-euro suite of infrastructure projects can operate effectively on an annual budgetary basis.

The Shannon to Dublin water supply project (€5-€6bn)

This project has landed on the desks of many ministers since the 1970s. Back then, population growth and economic concentration highlighted the inadequacies of the River Liffey to meet Dublin’s needs. Optimistically, construction might begin in 2028 with a fair wind.

With a formal application finally made late last year, 2026 should see more validation/submissions and, no doubt, objections, with public consultation starting over the next few months, if construction is to begin as forecast. However, many expect this project to be sitting on the desk of a future minister in the coming decades.

The Celtic Interconnector to France (€1.6bn)

This strengthens Ireland’s energy security and embeds us more firmly in the European electricity market. It supports decarbonisation, price stability and system resilience. Energy infrastructure of this kind is complex by nature, but its strategic value is clear, particularly in an era of geopolitical uncertainty.

By the end of this year, we will need to see most of the cable laid along most or all the 575km route. There will need to be a series of substation upgrades on both sides of the water.

Electricity grid reinforcement and renewable integration (exceeding €3.5bn up to 2030)

Grid upgrades and renewable integration are the quiet enablers of everything from data centres to electric vehicles. Without them, climate targets and economic growth come into conflict. With them, they reinforce each other. The challenge is pace: demand is moving faster than infrastructure.