19th November 2025
Chair, Members of the Committee,
Thank you for the invitation to address you today on behalf of the Society of Chartered
Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) on the critical subject of best practice in architecture, planning,
and surveying in the delivery of high-quality national infrastructure.
I am joined by Chartered Quantity Surveyor Eoin Wilcox, and together we speak not only
from our own professional experience but also based on extensive research and
consultation undertaken with SCSI members nationwide.
As chartered professionals working across all stages of infrastructure delivery, we witness
daily the opportunities and the barriers that shape Ireland’s capacity to deliver the
housing, energy, education, health and water projects our communities urgently need.
Ireland’s infrastructure stock remains approximately 25% below the average of high-income European countries, underscoring the scale of the challenge before us. Housing
delivery remains particularly constrained, and increasing output will remain extremely
difficult unless there is a corresponding and sustained increase in the pace of
infrastructure delivery, particularly in energy, water, and transport networks that enable
development. SCSI acknowledges the substantial investment made in critical
infrastructure in recent years, the focus now is on delivery and implementing
infrastructure in a much more coordinated, collaborative and risk-sharing approach.
Barriers to the Delivery of Infrastructure
The SCSI has identified some of the most pertinent issues that prevent or delay the
delivery of infrastructure. These are informed by our members who manage, value,
procure and specify designs on major projects across the country. The five key barriers
include:
- The urgent need for greater clarity and coordination in the sequencing of utility
connections for new development by aligning electricity, water, and wastewater
provision with housing delivery schedules. This is essential to prevent avoidable
delays and underutilisation of completed developments. - The high prevalence of Judicial Reviews (JRs) in the planning process has become
a major factor in delaying development commencements. The Urban
Development Zone changes brought about in the Planning and Development Act
2024 should greatly assist with some of the delays in relation to major housing
and infrastructural projects. We await the impact of these changes and remain
optimistic that Ireland can reduce the level of JRs taken to more normal levels
seen across the EU. - Rigid funding and procurement frameworks that make it difficult for public bodies
to respond flexibly or engage effectively with private-sector delivery partners. - A cautious culture in public contracting, where traditional procurement routes are
favoured even when alternative approaches could achieve faster, more cost-effective outcomes. While we fully recognise the need for prudence,
accountability, and value-for-money in public expenditure, there is a clear need
for greater efficiency, proportionality, and flexibility to ensure that procurement
processes keep pace with the urgency of national delivery. - The time taken to move from project initiation to commencement on site remains
excessively long. Delays accumulate at each stage of design approval and,
increasingly, within the business-case gateway process. These stages provide
important rigour and control however; in practice they can result in 9 to 18
months of lost time repeated several times throughout a project’s lifecycle. This
prolonged timeline contributes to rising project costs, exposure to regulatory
changes, loss of continuity as design-team personnel moves on, and diminished
confidence in the project proceeding. Funding that is initially available at project
initiation, may be re-prioritised before the construction stage is reached,
undermining delivery certainty.
The SCSI believes that these challenges can be overcome through a blend of structural
reform and cultural change.
Potential Solutions
Suggested improvements could be introduced to streamline procurement. For example,
there is a prevailing reliance on traditional public procurement methods, and SCSI suggests
that this should be re-evaluated, as these are often overly prescriptive and risk-averse.
There is clear merit in broadening the use of alternative delivery models, such as Designand-Build and Competitive Dialogue, which enable earlier engagement between the client
and industry and lead to faster, more efficient outcomes. The Competitive Dialogue
processes adopted by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Cork County Councils are prime
examples. These models allow earlier engagement between client and industry, leading
to a faster and more efficient delivery. In both these examples, structured dialogue with
developers helped shape deliverable housing schemes across multiple sites in record time.
This demonstrates that collaboration and competition can successfully coexist, combining
innovation with value for money.
Furthermore, the prevailing adversarial culture in public works contracts often gives rise
to disputes, claims, and costly delays. We recommend a shift toward collaborative
contracting, where risk is shared more proportionately, and the focus is on delivery
outcomes: time, cost, and quality. These methods also empower local authorities to
partner with external entities such as private developers, housing bodies, or utilities. A
flexible framework for partnership would enable local innovation while maintaining
appropriate national oversight and accountability.
Finally, water and wastewater capacity must be treated as a front-loaded national priority.
This should include a dedicated rapid-response mechanism between local authorities and
Uisce Éireann to unlock stalled developments and bring serviced land forward more
quickly. To support this, the use of infrastructure “heatmaps” should be expanded beyond
local authorities to delivery teams, enabling clearer identification of constraints, better
sequencing, and more transparent decision-making. At present, many local authorities
lack the staffing and technical resources to maintain real-time communication with
developers, leading to avoidable delays and an absence of clear prioritisation.
Strengthening local authority resourcing and improving structured communication
channels with the development sector will be essential if we are to accelerate the delivery
of local enabling infrastructure.
In summary, Chair and Members, Ireland’s infrastructure challenge is not solely one of
funding; it is one of coordination, culture, and confidence. By embedding best practice in
planning, procurement, and professional standards, and by fostering genuine
collaboration between the public and private sectors, we can accelerate delivery while
maintaining the highest standards of quality and value.