Government must tackle infrastructure delivery delays in Budget 2027, says Construction Industry Federation

The CIF is urging Government to prioritise measures that improve the speed and efficiency of infrastructure planning and delivery in Budget 2027.

The CIF further warned that ongoing delays are undermining Ireland’s ability to achieve its housing, infrastructure and economic growth objectives.

The construction delegation will meet with Government today, Friday 28th August, to outline budgetary recommendations. The pre-budget recommendations call for action to reduce bottlenecks, ensuring critical housing, transport, water, energy and public infrastructure projects can be delivered at the pace required to meet national demand.

A delegation from the CIF will meet with Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris TD and Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Jack Chambers TD, today (Friday, 28^th August 2026), as part of the pre-budget process.

Andrew Brownlee, CEO of the CIF, said: “Project delays and persistent uncertainty across the future project pipeline continue to be significant challenges, affecting the industry’s ability to plan, invest and maintain the capacity needed to deliver housing and infrastructure at the scale Ireland needs.

“Every project that is delayed from breaking ground faces rising labour, materials and financing costs, increasing pressure on both project viability and public expenditure. Prolonged delays also create uncertainty around the future project pipeline, making it harder for businesses to invest with confidence and maintain the capacity needed to meet Ireland’s infrastructure and housing ambitions. At a time when Ireland needs to accelerate delivery, we must ensure projects move through the system as efficiently as possible.

“CIF is calling on Government to establish a national infrastructure project tracker and publish a rolling multi-annual infrastructure pipeline. Greater visibility on project timelines, procurement schedules and delivery milestones would provide the certainty industry needs to invest in equipment, workforce development and modern methods of construction. Ultimately, better planning and greater transparency will support the faster delivery of critical infrastructure and better value for the taxpayer.

“While housing completions have reached 36,300 units in 2025, and commitments to infrastructure are welcome, rising material, fuel, carbon, development and regulatory costs are placing significant pressure on construction projects across the country, against an increasingly uncertain global backdrop.”

The Federation is also stressing the need for accelerated investment in Ireland’s electricity infrastructure to safeguard competitiveness and support continued foreign direct investment.

Andrew Brownlee said: “Grid constraints and connection delays are increasingly cited as barriers to investment, while growing demand from housing and industry is placing additional pressure on the network. Accelerating grid investment is essential to enable housing delivery, decarbonisation and economic development across the country.

“We acknowledge the Government’s commitment to progress in housing and infrastructure delivery over the past year and welcome the opportunity to engage on behalf of the construction industry. The measures outlined in our submission are focused on helping to deliver more homes, critical infrastructure, public services and better outcomes for communities across Ireland.”

The Federation’s Budget 2027 submission makes recommendations across skills and workforce development, strategic infrastructure delivery, unlocking housing supply, enabling the green and digital transition, and competitiveness and productivity.

In its Budget 2027 submission, the Federation is calling for a suite of measures aimed at reducing construction costs and improving project viability to maximise the delivery of housing and infrastructure including:

• Establish a national infrastructure project tracker and publish a rolling multi-annual infrastructure pipeline across all Government Departments responsible for the delivery of infrastructure and built assets.
• Reform of the tax treatment of construction workers to attract and retain talent in a critical sector for supporting Ireland’s competitiveness.
• Reform the Residential Zoned Land Tax, exempting active, constrained developments or phased developments.
• Ensure adequate resourcing of the planning system to expedite the large volume of planning permissions for infrastructure and housing delivery.
• Extend reduced VAT rate to all duplex apartments, removing restrictive definitions (e.g. common entrance rules).
• A pause in further carbon tax increases on construction.
• Permanent extension of the Help to Buy Scheme and extend the thresholds.

Read the 2027 Construction Industry Federation prebudget submission here.