State needs to cut through housing delivery red tape – ACEI

June 11, 20251298 Views

Leading consulting engineers have highlighted the need for political leadership in cutting through red tape strangling the delivery of housing and infrastructure at the ACEI’s annual conference.

ACEI Director General, Shane Dempsey stated: “The State has strangled itself in well-intentioned red tape over the past decade by establishing agencies, regulations and processes that are now contrary to accelerating the delivery of essential infrastructure and housing. This costs the State billions in delays to critical infrastructure particularly in the water, energy and transport arenas.

“The actual design and construction time of housing and infrastructure is a minor fraction of the overall delivery period. Our hope is that the recently formed infrastructure taskforce provides an alignment architecture that the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister can use to align the State’s agencies, processes and decision making.

“We’re seeing strategic transport corridors, housing schemes, and water projects stalled for decades—delaying economic growth, increasing environmental risk, and leaving communities underserved. Whilst the Government increase capital investment every year, a large proportion leaks away and doesn’t translate into the housing and infrastructure our society, economy and citizens require.”

ACEI President, Tim Murnane stated: “We’re facing increased political, economic and military uncertainty, and an ever-burgeoning housing crisis, against the backdrop of climate change, we can move at the speed of light, or we will move at the speed of catastrophe. The remainder of the 21st century belongs to the engineer. The only profession that can design solutions to the existential challenges our society faces is consulting engineering. Our time is now and we need to seize the day.”

At the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (ACEI) 2025 Annual Conference, key engineering leaders and Government bodies called for action, warning that Ireland’s chronic delays in infrastructure and housing delivery are costing the country billions in economic output, undermining climate goals, and deepening the housing crisis.

With over 200 professionals in attendance at the Dublin conference themed “Quantum Leap: Accelerating Housing and Infrastructure Delivery; the ACEI called on the Government to:

Conduct a lean audit of the processes and Government decision points impacting on delivery to align decision making underpinned by bespoke statutory timelines on major projects
Like Spain, reshape public consultation on strategic infrastructure projects so respondents can provide input for consideration rather than objections.
Adopt fairer contractual conditions in public sector contracts so that consulting engineers tender for public sector contracts and make a fair profit.
Ensure that all agencies operating on behalf of the state, including commercial semi-states adopt standard Government contracts (with the addition of Net Contribution Clauses

Ireland is consistently ranked near the bottom of EU infrastructure delivery performance, even though it has one of the highest levels of capital investment. According to a 2024 European Investment Bank report, the average delay for large-scale infrastructure projects in Ireland is over four years, compared to the EU average of two.

A high-profile example is the Metrolink project—first proposed in 2005—is still awaiting final approval, with the earliest operational date now projected for 2035.

The cost of delay is not just measured in lost time, ACEI noted. A 2023 Department of Public Expenditure study found that every year of infrastructure deferral increases project costs by an average of 7–10% due to inflation and re-design requirements. This has resulted in billions in additional public expenditure over the last decade.

ACEI’s central recommendation from the conference is clear: Government departments and delivery agencies must be required to align behind the national mission of accelerating delivery. Without clear responsibility, adequate resourcing, and cross-agency accountability, delays will persist.

Dempsey said: “No one is accountable for delivery outcomes across the whole system. We need a delivery structure where everyone—planners, departments, agencies—is working in sync, not in silos. We have the vision. We have the funding. We have the engineering talent. But unless the system is rewired for delivery, Ireland will continue to underperform and overpay. It’s time for leadership—and it starts with system-wide alignment.”

ACEI Recommendations