67. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will report on the progress being made under Pillar III of the Accelerating Infrastructure Plan [40322/26]

Pillar III of the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan addresses Coordination and Delivery Reform. In order to deliver on the commitments of the NDP and Sectoral Investment plans, Ireland must be able to deliver infrastructure at scale, year after year. This can only be achieved with strong, whole-of-Government coordination and a strong construction sector.

My Department’s Infrastructure Division has taken on a proactive oversight and monitoring role for this action plan, which will allow DPER to take early action, where barriers arise in the delivery of critical infrastructure.

Construction sector capacity will be increased by improving career opportunities and incentivising the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to increase productivity. Shortened delivery timelines, reduced regulatory complexity, and a reliable project pipeline will all enable the construction sector to build and maintain the workforce and expertise needed to deliver on Ireland’s ambitious capital plans.

All commitments for Q1 across the four pillars have been delivered. Some of the key actions under Pillar III include:

• Completion of the NDP and Sectoral Plans. My Department have compiled a list of the most critical projects, including updates on current and upcoming stages for project delivery for Actions 17, 18 and 19.

• Under Action 21, my Department established a Joint Utilities and Transport Clearing House. This group brings together the lead Departments responsible for infrastructure with utilities, transport authorities, and representatives of local Government.Key issues affecting the coordination and timely delivery of infrastructure are discussed and resolved by JUTCH.

• Under Action 22, DFHERIS published a plan on construction skills needs with the assistance of Indecon. The key recommendations include an assessment of reforms to apprenticeship programmes, coordination of pipelines and prioritisation of project rollout

• Reforms to the Infrastructure Guidelines (IGs) were approved by Government in February, with a Circular issued under Action 23. The updates include removing the External Assurance Process for all major projects, raising the major project threshold to €500 million for water, energy and transport projects, and removing the requirement for Ministerial approval at Approval Gate Two

• Under Action 24 revised ministerial guidelines and Circular have been issued in relation to the use of NDFA support to assist in the technical aspects of project delivery.

• Finally, under Actions 25 and 26 my Department have revised structures within the Construction Sector Group to lead on further and innovation reforms within the construction sector. There are also new structures to standardise procurement processes and enable the use of international forms of contract where appropriate.

I am delighted to say the impacts from these changes are starting to become visible with time savings and processes simplified. For example;

• Waterford Wastewater Treatment Plant is now in detailed design, planning and MAC consent stage. Under previous IG rules this project would likely still be undergoing the External Assurance Review at AG1. This delivers a potential 26 week saving.

• NDFA and Dublin City Council have agreed a partnership to deliver 4,000 homes in Dublin from 2026 to 2030. Early procurement documentation has already been published for the first 2 housing bundles.