Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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37. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if meeting Ireland's climate targets will be a consideration in the allocation of the final tranche of money raised from AIB share sales, as part of the National Development Plan review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39896/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Government has prioritised an early review of the National Development Plan, to be published in July. The Programme for Government recognises that delivery of essential infrastructure is a key driver in attracting and retaining investment in Ireland, growing our economy, fostering regional development, delivering on our housing targets as well as achieving our ambitious climate goals.

The aim of the NDP Review is to improve our infrastructure, particularly, water, energy and transport. Prioritisation of this supporting economic infrastructure is necessary to enable the delivery of hundreds of thousands of additional homes and to boost our competitiveness.

As set out in the Programme for Government, investment in these priority sectors can also be a driver for achieving our ambitious climate goals. For example, in the Transport sector, improvements to public transport infrastructure can help to support emission reduction targets.

Overall, the NDP Review will update capital expenditure ceilings to 2035 and will draw on Exchequer and non-Exchequer sources of funding, including: the proceeds of bank share sales, the Apple escrow funds, as well as €3.15bn in funding from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to support designated environmental projects over the period 2026 to 2030. A climate assessment is also being conducted by this department of programmes receiving NDP funding. A summary climate assessment will be published in July alongside the Review document.

The proceeds of bank share sales will therefore form part of the total funding available as part of the Review along with the remaining non-Exchequer and Exchequer funding. This funding will be used to support the aim of the Review to update capital expenditure ceilings to 2035 and in doing so, to improve our infrastructure, particularly, water, energy, and transport in support of our housing and competitiveness objectives. The Minister for Finance will be able to provide further information on the total amount of funding raised from bank share sales that will be made available for infrastructure investment.