Review of the Critical Infrastructure Act

The Government has passed legislation to prioritise critical infrastructure. The new law seeks to disapply certain climate action obligations on public bodies. Our Construction, Infrastructure & Utilities team reviews the Act and its potential impact on Ireland's built environment sector.

What you need to know

• The Critical Infrastructure Act 2026 was signed into law on 25 June 2026.
• The Act introduces new Government powers aimed at fast-tracking the development of essential public infrastructure.
• Government can now designate certain publicly funded projects and programmes as "critical infrastructure".
• The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation can direct public bodies to prioritise critical infrastructure.
• The Act disapplies section 15 of the Climate Act to public bodies when performing their functions related to critical infrastructure.

The Irish Government published its ‘Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan’ in December 2025. The Action Plan was prepared by the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce. One of the actions identified by the Taskforce was the proposal of the Critical Infrastructure Act 2026. The Act was signed into law on 25 June 2026. It aims to unblock systemic bottlenecks to deliver critical infrastructure in sectors including:

• Energy
• Water
• Wastewater
• Waste management, and
• Transport

These critical infrastructure projects are provided for under the Government’s €275 billion National Development Plan for 2026–2035.

In broad terms, the Act includes three key provisions:

1. To provide power for Government to designate certain publicly funded projects and programmes as "critical infrastructure",
2. To provide power for the Minister to give directions to public bodies to prioritise critical infrastructure, and
3. To modify the application of section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as amended (the Climate Act).

Designation of critical infrastructure

The Minister has a central role in the designation of critical infrastructure. The Minister must make recommendations to Government to designate projects and programmes as critical infrastructure. In doing so, the Minister must consider:

1. The need to ensure effective and efficient delivery of a project or programme
2. Whether delay, disruption, or failure to deliver a project or programme could have adverse economic or social consequences for the State
3. Whether a project or programme may impact in a positive or negative manner on the delivery of any other project or programme
4. The National Development Plan 2021-2030 as may be amended or replaced, and
5. Any other matters related to infrastructure that the Minister may consider appropriate

Once designated, critical infrastructure will benefit from streamlined public body processes. This is because relevant public bodies will be required to:

1. Prioritise the performance of their relevant functions
2. Act expeditiously and avoid undue delays in the delivery of the critical infrastructure project or programme
3. Ensure steps are taken to reduce the time required for its processes relating to an authorisation to be completed, e.g., licence, permit, decision, award, approval
4. In so far as practicable, act concurrently with other relevant public authorities to reduce the time required for an authorisation to be completed
5. Co-operate with any other relevant public body to act concurrently, identify risks and prioritise sequencing of their respective functions, and
6. Allocate resources to facilitate this cooperation.

Critically, these duties apply “without prejudice” to any other statutory functions. This means they operate alongside, not instead of, existing statutory schemes for planning, environment, procurement, etc.

Directions to public bodies

The Minister is also empowered to issue written directions to relevant public bodies. A written direction may, among other things, require a relevant public body to adopt measures for the purposes of carrying out its duties. They may also be required to report on their compliance and critically, be compelled to adopt specific measures. Relevant public bodies are obliged to comply with any such Ministerial directions.

Modification of Climate Act

Section 15 of the Climate Act requires public bodies to perform their functions in a manner consistent with the Climate Action Plan and other national climate objectives and strategies, insofar as practicable. The Bill proposes to disapply section 15 to relevant public bodies when performing their relevant functions related to critical infrastructure. This includes their duties to fast-track authorisation processes and comply with Ministerial directions.

In the case of Coolglass[1], the Supreme Court clarified the scope of section 15. See our previous article on that decision. The proposal to disapply this obligation that is aimed at achieving the State’s climate objectives will likely be closely scrutinised.

It should be noted the disapplication of section 15 will only apply to national climate objectives. It will not act to avoid the State’s EU obligations. This is provided for in the Act. It states that nothing in the Act shall operate to affect the State’s existing or future obligations under EU law or any enactment that gives effect to these obligations.

Conclusion

The enactment of this new law represents a critical moment for Government. It is a clear signal of the intent to meet essential public infrastructure targets. There is little doubt that a more coordinated approach across all relevant public bodies is needed to achieve those targets. That said, the Act does take a peculiar approach of disapplying section 15 of the Climate Act while at the same time confirming that the Act will not affect the State’s EU obligations. It seems the disapplication of section 15 is an attempt to reduce the potential grounds for judicial review of authorisations for critical infrastructure projects.

For more information and expert advice, contact a member of our Construction, Infrastructure & Utilities team.

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.

[1] Coolglass Wind Farm Limited v An Coimisiún Pleanála [2026] IESC 5