Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland Budget Statement

“We welcome the Government’s infrastructure ambition, but today’s Budget must now be coupled with a bonfire of the redtape that is strangling housing and infrastructure delivery.  Without this, a large proportion of the €116bn announced for infrastructure will evaporate due to delays, judicial reviews, and legal disputes.

We need to see — in full — the forthcoming report on removing barriers to infrastructure delivery in the regulatory system, and we must quickly move to put its recommendations into practice. The real test will be in how that report is deployed not the figures mentioned today.

In particular, reform of public sector procurement and tendering is essential.  Precluding the selection of the lowest bid and focussing on quality in public procurement will see better delivery, less delays and better turns across the lifeycle of projects.

Better contracting models, fairer risk sharing, earlier engagement between public clients and engineering firms, will see less of today’s investment diverted to legal issues and disputes.

The engineering sector stands ready to help design, deliver and maintain Ireland’s critical infrastructure — but Government policy must focus now on ensuring that funding commitments translate into delivered projects on the ground.”

1. Make the ministerial report public immediately, including draft timelines for implementation and sectoral impact assessments.
2. Embed procurement reform as a core component of delivery acceleration — including reducing overly burdensome procurement cycles, limiting repeated rounds of retendering, and ensuring transparent risk allocation.
3. Lock in statutory or administrative timelines for decision-making across planning, environmental, grid and statutory approvals, with clear accountability and sanctions for delays.
4. Limit the scope of judicial review appeals in clearly designated strategic infrastructure projects, while preserving fair access to challenge in appropriate contexts.
5. Provide certainty in multi-annual funding to support multi-year projects and avoid stop / start cycles in delivery capacity.
6. Build delivery capacity in the public sector – more project management resources, specialist procurement units, and better coordination across ministries and State Agencies.