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The CIF welcomes the publication of the Joint Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery report.
The Federation is grateful to the Committee for inviting the CIF to participate in its work and for providing the opportunity to contribute to discussions on construction sector capacity, procurement reform and the delivery of critical national infrastructure.
The report contains several recommendations that align closely with CIF policy positions and industry priorities. In particular, CIF welcomes the Committee’s recognition that there is existing capacity within Ireland’s construction sector to support the delivery of major infrastructure programmes, while also acknowledging the need for long-term workforce and skills development to sustain this capacity into the future. The recommendation that Government, local authorities and utility providers adopt planning horizons of 25 to 50 years represents a significant step forward in addressing one of the industry’s key concerns.
For the construction industry, long-term planning is about more than infrastructure. A visible pipeline of projects provides certainty for contractors and creates the confidence necessary to invest in apprenticeships, recruitment, skills development, innovation, modern methods of construction and new technologies. Such certainty is also essential to attracting talented people into construction careers and retaining them over the long term.
The Federation also welcomes the Committee’s strong focus on workforce skills development and the recommendation that trade skills receive equal recognition to other educational pathways. This supports the case for a coordinated national careers and workforce programme to promote construction careers and ensure a sustainable pipeline of skilled workers across housing and infrastructure delivery.
The report contains several important recommendations relating to procurement reform, which are essential if more contractors are to compete for and deliver public projects. The Committee recognises the need to move away from procurement models focused primarily on lowest price and instead place greater emphasis on quality, value for money, design completion and supply chain certainty. It also highlights the importance of mitigating and managing risk rather than simply transferring it to contractors, together with increased early collaboration and contractor involvement during project development.
These recommendations reflect evidence presented by CIF representatives during the Committee’s work.
As noted in the report, Paul Sheridan, director of main contracting at CIF told the Committee: “These and further reforms must be accelerated. This is critical to attracting contractors to public works, lowering embedded carbon and delivering complex infrastructure. Our analysis and regular outlook reports continue to show that almost 70 per cent of contractors are doing none or low levels of public works.”
The Federation also welcomes the Committee’s recommendations relating to standardised design for essential utility infrastructure. The use of standardised approaches for facilities such as water and wastewater pumping stations, ESB substations, transformers and other utility infrastructure has significant potential to improve efficiency, accelerate approvals, reduce costs and support more predictable delivery of housing and infrastructure projects.
Equally important is the Committee’s recommendation on procurement excellence. CIF supports the view that all public bodies involved in infrastructure delivery should have access to appropriate procurement expertise, training and continuing professional development. Investment by Government in procurement capability across contracting authorities will be critical to achieving better project outcomes and ensuring consistency across the public sector.
Overall, the report reinforces a central message repeatedly highlighted by the CIF and its members: long-term planning, procurement reform, workforce development and pipeline certainty must work together if Ireland is to successfully deliver critical national infrastructure. The CIF looks forward to working with Government, public bodies and industry stakeholders to advance these recommendations and develop a long-term national infrastructure careers and skills programme capable of attracting the talent needed to deliver Ireland’s future infrastructure ambitions.
Read the Joint Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery report here.