John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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43. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the steps the accelerating infrastructure task force within his Department is taking to reduce the regulatory burden on bodies responsible for the development of imperative State infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60172/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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On foot of the Programme for Government commitment, a new infrastructure division was established within my Department. A key focus of the Division's work has been systematically identifying the barriers that inhibit the delivery of critical infrastructure and subsequently, developing actions that might address these barriers.

The work of my Department is supported in this regard by the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce which was established in May. The role of this taskforce is to provide support, advice and guidance to my department’s programme of reform to identify barriers and accelerate infrastructure delivery. The taskforce's membership includes CEOs from semi-state agencies who are critical to economic infrastructure development, such as Uisce Éireann, the National Transport Authority, and ESB Networks, and independent senior members that bring their broad business and construction sector experience.

A report on the barriers to infrastructure delivery was published in July. This report included input from the Taskforce, as well as views distilled from extensive stakeholder engagement and public consultation. The report specifically identified the volume and complexity of legislative and administrative instruments as being a significant barrier to the effective delivery of infrastructure. When combined with the increasing numbers of judicial reviews, this results in a longer development cycle for infrastructure and a greater degree of uncertainty. This in turn adds significantly to the cost of infrastructure.

My Department is now preparing a report and action plan to address the barriers to infrastructure delivery. This will be brought to Government in the coming weeks and will set out a series of high-impact reforms targeted at the most significant barriers to the timely delivery of critical infrastructure. This will include actions to address the specific barrier identified in July's report of: "Increased Regulatory Burden", which set out how multiple, distinct and often overlapping regulatory processes increase complexity without necessarily improving outcomes in the delivery of critical infrastructure.