The Critical Infrastructure Act 2026 (the ‘Act‘) establishes a statutory framework to facilitate the delivery of infrastructure projects deemed strategically important to the State.

The legislation empowers the Government to designate specified projects and programmes as “critical infrastructure,” thereby conferring priority status and requiring public bodies to give them preferential treatment. The category of “public bodies” is already broadly defined, and the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (the ‘Minister‘) has the scope to expand it further to capture additional classes of persons or bodies.

On 24 July 2026, the Government designated the following nine projects as “critical infrastructure” in the core areas of transport, water and energy.

1. The Dublin MetroLink
2. The Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme
3. The Galway City Ring Road
4. The Water Supply Project for the Eastern and Midlands Region
5. The Greater Dublin Drainage Project
6. The Limerick Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade and Bioresource Centre
7. The North South 400 kv Interconnector
8. The Moneypoint 400 kv Series Capacitor Project
9. The Letterkenny 110 kv Redevelopment Project.

The designation confers multiple benefits, including the powers conferred on the Minister by sections 5 and 6 of the Act. Section 5(2) empowers the Minister to monitor and assess how public bodies perform their critical infrastructure duties. Section 6 further empowers the Minister to issue directions to public bodies that are obliged to comply with them.

The Background to the Act

The Act arises from increasing concern regarding delays in the delivery of major infrastructure projects in Ireland. Notwithstanding significant funding commitments under the National Development Plan, projects have been consistently prolonged with delays in securing approvals, licences, consents, and regulatory determinations.

The legislation forms part of the ‘Government’s wider Accelerating Infrastructure Action Plan, which identified systemic inefficiencies and a lack of coordination across public authorities as the main obstacles to timely delivery. The Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce outlined mechanisms designed to ensure that strategically important projects receive prioritise and coordinated treatment across the public sector.

How does the Act work?

The Act does not establish a separate planning regime, nor does it displace existing planning, environmental, or regulatory requirements. Designated projects remain subject to all applicable domestic and European Union legal obligations and must obtain the requisite approvals.

However, the Act significantly alters the manner in which public bodies must exercise their functions in relation to such projects. Authorities are required to prioritise designated projects, minimise avoidable delays, allocate appropriate resources, and engage in coordinated decision-making with other relevant bodies. The legislation also promotes parallel processing of approvals, reducing reliance on sequential decision-making.

The process for designation is initiated by the Minister pursuant to section 3(2). To paraphrase, when deciding whether to recommend a project, the Minister is required to consider whether:

• the project can actually be delivered well and on time;
• delays, disruption, or the project not happening at all could hurt the economy or society;
• it might help or hinder other projects;
• how it fits with the Government’s National Development Plan (or whatever replaces it); and
• anything else about infrastructure the Minister considered to be relevant.

What impact will the Act have?

The effectiveness of the Act will ultimately depend on its practical implementation. The Act provides clarity on prioritisation measures such as accelerated decision making, coordinated processing, the allocation of resources and the duty to expedite.

Designation as critical infrastructure should facilitate improved coordination between public bodies, more efficient deployment of resources, and enhanced visibility of projects within the administrative system. It is expected that this will assist with the earlier delivery of essential transport, water, and energy infrastructure, which will enable the wider development of national housing, economic, and investment objectives.

While its full impact remains to be assessed, the Act signals a clear policy shift towards a more streamlined and coordinated approach to infrastructure delivery.

Climate and Environmental Considerations

A notable and potentially contentious feature of the Act is the possible impact it may have on Ireland’s climate obligations. Section 7 of the Act disapplies section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 in certain circumstances involving designated critical infrastructure projects.

Section 15 has become an important consideration in public decision-making and environmental challenges, as it requires public bodies to consider Ireland’s climate objectives when carrying out their functions. In the case of Coolglass v An Bord Pleanála [2026] IESC 5 (para 108), the Supreme Court described Section 15 as operating a “as a form of climate sense check, and to ensure that decisions and actions of public sector bodies are all aligned with the climate objective”. The Act’s disapplication of Section 15 to critical infrastructure projects has promoted debate as to how accelerated infrastructure will be balanced with climate obligations.

The Act must not derogate from ‘Ireland’s obligations under European Union law. Requirements relating to environmental impact assessment, habitat protection, and other EU-derived environmental safeguards continue to apply in full. The Act introduces prioritisation mechanisms, but designated projects remain subject to comprehensive environmental scrutiny.

What to Watch

The Critical Infrastructure Act 2026 represents a significant development in Ireland’s legal framework for infrastructure delivery. By mandating prioritisation and enhanced coordination across public bodies, the Act seeks to reduce delays and facilitate the timely completion of projects critical to the State’s future development.

The Government has confirmed that further designations will follow at regular intervals. Bearing this in mind, it will be important to monitor how the Act operates in practice both in terms of how effectively the nine designated projects are accelerated, and which additional projects and sectors are brought within scope. The exercise of the Minister’s monitoring and direction powers under Sections 5 and 6, and how disapplication of Section 15 of the Climate Act is applied in practice, will also merit close attention.

For developers, contractors, investors, and public bodies alike, early engagement with the designation process and a clear understanding of the obligations it creates will be key to realising its intended benefits. Please contact our Energy and Infrastructure and Environment and Planning teams for advice on the implications of the Act for specific projects and sectors.

Contributed by: Lorraine Kelly and Emma-Louise Nolan