The Government published a Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026 and Circulars, following on from the Accelerating Infrastructure Action Plan.

The Bill aims to address delay, fragmentation and sequencing risks in the delivery of State infrastructure (defined as any infrastructure that enables essential facilities and systems of the State to function effectively, including transport facilities; energy generation, transmission and distribution systems; and water supply, wastewater and waste management systems).

The Bill would apply to projects and programmes funded by capital investment, by or on behalf of the State, or by or on behalf of a public body (as defined in the Bill).

Designation mechanism

The Government would designate, by order, a specified project or programme as a critical infrastructure project or critical infrastructure programme.

Designation would follow a recommendation from the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (the “Minister”), having regard to matters including the need to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the project / programme; whether delay, disruption, or failure to deliver the project / programme may have adverse economic or social consequences for the State; the impact on delivery of any other project / programme; the National Development Plan 2021-2030; and such other matters in relation to infrastructure as the Minister may consider appropriate.

Duties of public bodies

A public body would be a relevant public body in so far as it performs functions in relation to a critical infrastructure project / programme (“relevant functions”).

Relevant public bodies would be obliged to:

• prioritise performance of relevant functions over other statutory functions,
• take all necessary steps in performance of relevant functions to act in an expeditious manner and to avoid undue delays,
• take steps to reduce timelines for authorisation processes,
• in so far as practicable, progress relevant functions at the same time as other relevant public bodies are progressing relevant functions,
• co‑operate with other relevant public bodies on sequencing, risk management and dependencies, and
• allocate appropriate administrative, technical and decision‑making resources.

Ministerial oversight

The Minister would be able to require relevant public bodies to provide information, reports or analyses on performance, and to issue binding directions requiring relevant public bodies to adopt specified measures for the purposes of carrying out the above duties.

Climate 

Section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 would not apply to a relevant public body in respect of performance of its relevant functions, in respect of carrying out the above duties, or for the purposes of compliance with a Ministerial direction. Section 15 of the Climate Act, in the words of the Supreme Court in Coolglass, “operates as a form of climate sense check, and to ensure that decisions and actions of public sector bodies are all aligned with the climate objectives”.

Regulations and commencement

The Bill would allow the Minister to make regulations prescribing a person / body that performs functions in relation to infrastructure to be a public body (for the purposes of the Bill).

The Bill will undergo the legislative process. Once passed and signed into law, it must be commenced by Ministerial order.

Circulars

The Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation published circulars applying to Government departments and bodies under their aegis with responsibilities relating to critical infrastructure in energy, transport, water and (where applicable) housing.

Circular 16/2026, Rapid Response to Legal Precedent with Impacts on Infrastructure Delivery, sets out procedures for monitoring and reporting court decisions that may impact delivery of critical national infrastructure in energy, transport and water. The intent is to fast-track assessment and co-ordinated response.

Circular 18/2026, Principles for Better Regulation for Critical Infrastructure Projects, sets out principles public sector bodies must follow as they simplify and streamline regulation. A non-exhaustive list of simplification tasks includes, for example, assessing proportionality of regulatory and consenting processes and identifying reforms, as well as exercising flexibilities in transposition of EU legislation. Principles to be applied to the simplification tasks are necessity, effectiveness, proportionality, coherence, efficiency, timebound, transparency and accountability. The Circular sets out a checklist of questions for each principle (including, for example, does this regulation achieve its intended outcome in the least burdensome and most timely way, and does the process have set timelines appropriate for speedy delivery).

The Bill and Circulars reflect a concerted effort to embed prioritisation, coordination and regulatory discipline across the public sector for infrastructure delivery in critical areas of the economy.