Why does it take so long to get big projects done in Ireland?

RTÉ News​

13 hours ago

Analysis: While our track record on infrastructure delivery is poor, such structural challenges present opportunities for systemic transformation
Last week, the Government unveiled its ambitious National Development Plan (NDP) Review 2025, committing nearly €100 billion toward transformative infrastructure by 2030. While this represents a watershed moment for Irish development policy, the nation's track record on infrastructure delivery remains deeply problematic. Complex procurement processes, bureaucratic bottlenecks and protracted planning procedures routinely stall critical projects. However, what if we reframed these systemic challenges not as insurmountable obstacles, but as catalysts for groundbreaking innovation?
The empirical evidence reveals a concerning pattern of institutional dysfunction. Ireland's planning permission process averages nine months for Strategic Infrastructure Development projects, often followed by judicial appeals that extend timelines indefinitely. According to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, each additional month between planning and construction inflates costs disproportionately, creating a cascade of economic inefficiency.
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Procurement frameworks compound these delays through risk-averse procedures and fragmented decision-making structures. The Strategic Investment Board highlights critical weaknesses. These include duplicated business-case analyses, unclear objectives across Centres of Procurement Expertise, and defensive bureaucratic cultures that prioritise process over outcomes. This institutional inertia creates what scholars term governance gridlock, where multiple stakeholders possess veto power but lack collective accountability for delivery.
The human capital dimension presents equally severe constraints. EY Ireland's analysis reveals a critical shortage of experienced project leaders and procurement specialists, with demand significantly outstripping supply. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council estimates a deficit of approximately 80,000 construction workers, creating fundamental capacity limitations that no amount of funding can immediately overcome.
Ireland's integration into global supply chains, while economically beneficial, creates acute vulnerabilities for infrastructure delivery. Post-pandemic disruptions, geopolitical tensions and commodity price volatility, particularly for steel, concrete and copper generate unpredictable cost escalations. Contractors respond by inflating bids to hedge against uncertainty, reducing competitive tension and undermining value-for-money outcomes.
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OECD research demonstrates that countries with extended procurement and planning phases face disproportionate exposure to global volatility. This creates a vicious cycle of longer timelines increasing cost uncertainty, which then generates higher bids, which then further delays project approval and implementation.
Infrastructure development is inherently political, reflecting electoral priorities and coalition compromises. Ireland lacks robust central coordination mechanisms, with multiple ministries and semi-state bodies managing overlapping portfolios without clear hierarchical authority. The recently renamed Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform & Digitalisation represents recognition of this challenge, but institutional restructuring alone cannot overcome deeper coordination failures.
Academic research on planning optimism bias reveals how early project commitments, often made for political reasons, systematically underestimate costs and overestimate benefits. This creates lock-in effects where projects proceed despite deteriorating economics, generating public scepticism about infrastructure investment more broadly.
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Yet these structural challenges, viewed through a different analytical lens, present unprecedented opportunities for systemic transformation. Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler's research on exponential technologies suggests that constraints often catalyse remarkable innovation breakthroughs. Ireland's infrastructure delays create powerful incentives for digital transformation across procurement, planning, and project management systems.
Consider procurement innovation. Blockchain technology and smart contracts could transform traditionally bureaucratic processes into transparent, secure and efficient systems. AI-driven project management platforms could provide real-time risk assessment and adaptive scheduling, dramatically reducing uncertainty and improving stakeholder confidence.
Digital transformation of planning processes offers similar potential. Integrated platforms combining environmental assessment, stakeholder engagement and regulatory approval could compress nine-month timelines into weeks. Virtual reality technologies could enable immersive project visualisation, reducing appeals through enhanced public understanding and engagement.
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Ireland's skills shortage, rather than representing an insurmountable constraint, creates incentives for innovative workforce development strategies. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), digital credentialing systems and immersive apprenticeship programs could rapidly scale expertise in procurement and project management. Global collaboration networks could provide access to international best practices and specialized knowledge.
The historical precedent of the Shannon hydroelectric scheme demonstrates Ireland's capacity for decisive action when political will aligns with institutional innovation. Michael McDowell's analysis reveals how special legislation in 1925 ensured swift project completion through streamlined regulatory frameworks and clear accountability structures. This model offers a blueprint for contemporary infrastructure challenges.
Technology-enabled transparency could revolutionise infrastructure governance by creating real-time accountability mechanisms. Publicly accessible digital dashboards tracking project milestones, budget expenditures and performance metrics would reduce political interference while enhancing public trust. Such systems would shift focus from factional interests toward collaborative problem-solving and evidence-based decision-making.
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This approach echoes successful international models where transparency platforms have transformed public sector performance. The key insight is that technological solutions must be embedded within reformed institutional structures that incentivise cooperation over competition between government agencies.
The NDP's €100 billion commitment creates an unprecedented opportunity for comprehensive reform. However, success requires addressing structural weaknesses simultaneously with increased investment. First, streamlining approval processes through statutory time limits and higher thresholds for legal challenges would reduce uncertainty and planning delays.
Second, adopting the OECD's STEPS framework for strategic procurement would balance risk management with competitive dynamics, encouraging broader market participation while maintaining quality standards. Standardising public-private partnership approaches would reduce legal complexity and transaction costs.
From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, Seamus Coffey from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council on the lag in Ireland's infrastructural strategy
Third, developing clear career pathways for infrastructure professionals, benchmarked against private sector compensation, would build institutional capacity over time. Centralised knowledge-sharing platforms could prevent duplication and accelerate learning across government departments.
The National Development Plan represents more than ambitious spending, it embodies Ireland's potential to become a global model of innovative infrastructure delivery. By embracing technological solutions, institutional reform, and evidence-based governance, Ireland could transform chronic delays into competitive advantages.
The moment for comprehensive reform has arrived; the only question is whether Ireland will seize it.
Rather than accepting infrastructure dysfunction as inevitable, Irish policymakers have an opportunity to demonstrate that small, agile nations can lead global innovation in public sector transformation. The Shannon Scheme's legacy reminds us that decisive action, supported by appropriate institutional frameworks, can deliver transformational outcomes.
The question is not whether Ireland can afford to invest €100 billion in infrastructure, but whether it can afford not to simultaneously invest in the institutional innovations necessary to deliver that infrastructure effectively. The moment for comprehensive reform has arrived; the only question is whether Ireland will seize it.