Irish Government Sets Out Biggest Ever Investment Plan

The Irish government has announced the largest national development plan in the history of the state as it unveiled spending proposals for the next decade. The plan envisages a total investment of €165bn (£141m) between now and 2030 on various capital projects such as housing and transport infrastructure. The investment will include extra money for cross-border projects, with capital funding for the government's Shared Island initiative to be "at least doubled" to €1bn (£853m) until 2030. Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin said the planned spending of €3.5bn on north-south infrastructure was a "significant increase" in investment on infrastructure projects. Those projects include the Irish government funding the Narrow Water Bridge between counties Louth and Down, the Ulster Canal and the A5 road as well as more money to be spent on greenways, higher education, biodiversity and industrial parks. However, opposition parties have questioned the government's costings and timescales, with the Labour Party dismissing the plan as a "work of fiction". Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin has announced a target to build 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030, which would include 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. He also said there would be a swift reform of the planning system to address "the planning and legal delays which bedevil infrastructure and housing projects in Ireland". The investment will including extra money for cross-border projects, with capital funding for the government's Shared Island initiative to be "at least doubled" to €1bn (£853m) until 2030. The investment proposals were presented as the revised "National Development Plan" - an updated version of a capital spending programme first outlined in 2018. The revised version is more costly and ambitious, as it involves almost €50bn (£42m) of extra spending that had been envisaged three years ago. The new plan includes a €35bn (£30m) investment package for Ireland's transport system, including proposals for new light rail systems and 1,000 km of new and improved walking and cycling infrastructure.