Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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131. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to report on the status of the infrastructure delivery taskforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28050/25]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on the new accelerating infrastructure taskforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27893/25]

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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151. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the anticipated output of the accelerated infrastructure taskforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27732/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 131, 144 and 151 together.

In line with the commitments made in the Programme for Government, I recently announced a series of actions to accelerate the delivery of strategic infrastructure in Ireland, including the creation of a new Infrastructure Division in my Department.

This new Division will focus on accelerating infrastructure development, particularly in the electricity, water and transport sectors as this is the strategic infrastructure required to underpin the development of all other economic and social infrastructure. It is vital to enable the development of the 300,000 homes we need to meet the Government's housing target, and to support our economy's competitiveness.

Specifically, the Infrastructure Division will initially focus on the preparation of a systematic, evidence-based assessment of the barriers impeding timely infrastructure development. To undertake this work, experts from key State agencies such as ESB Networks, EirGrid, Uisce Eireann, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and An Bord Pleanála have already been redeployed to my Department and are working with civil servants on this task.

Over the coming weeks, the Infrastructure Division will engage with key stakeholders to gather the evidence necessary to identify the most critical barriers to development. This will be combined with a public consultation that will be launched in June to gather views from a wide range of stakeholders. The team will also examine what reforms have been successfully introduced in other jurisdictions that may be applicable in Ireland.

I expect to provide a report to Government by the end of July on what have been identified as the most significant barriers that are slowing infrastructure development. The results of this analysis will inform a focused Action Plan of high-impact reform measures that Government will consider for implementation.

To assist with my oversight of this work programme, I have created a new Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce. This taskforce is comprised of twelve members. Six independent experts, experienced in infrastructure delivery, combined with six ex-officio members, taken from those commercial semi-states at the frontline of infrastructure development and the local government sector. I am chairing the taskforce which meets monthly to review progress being made.