The Critical Infrastructure Act 2026: Recent policy developments

Background

On 25 June the President signed the Critical Infrastructure Act 2026 into law. The Act will come into operation once the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (the Minister) issues a commencement order.

The Act gives statutory effect to a central commitment in the Accelerating Infrastructure – Report and Action Plan published 3 December 2025 (the Action Plan), namely the need to address systemic delay, fragmentation and sequencing risk in the delivery of State‑backed infrastructure in Ireland. For more detail on the Action Plan, see our previous article: Key takeaways from the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. The Act is of particular importance for public bodies and those involved in the planning and delivery of critical infrastructure which, for the purpose of the Act, includes transport, energy and water / wastewater infrastructure projects.

As part of its delivery on the Action Plan, the Department of Public Expenditure Infrastructure Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (the Department) published three Circulars this year:

• Circular 16/2026, which institutionalises rapid State responses to adverse judicial precedent affecting infrastructure consenting and delivery
• Circular 18/2026, which mandates regulatory simplification and proportionality by public bodies
• Circular 24/2026, which outlines the Benefits Realisation Framework

The Bill was first published in April 2026, evidencing that infrastructure reform and implementing the Action Plan is a priority for the Government.

Designation of “critical infrastructure projects and programmes”

The Act sets out how an individual project or a multi‑project programme will be designated a “critical infrastructure project” or a “critical infrastructure programme”:

• Government funded: the Act applies to projects and programmes that are funded by capital investment by or on behalf of the State or a public body
• Ministerial recommendation: having considered several factors, the Minister may recommend that a project or programme be designated a critical infrastructure project or programme
• Designation order: the Act empowers the Government, having considered the Minister’s recommendation, to designate projects or programmes by way of a “designation order” and
• Dáil review period: each designation order must be reviewed by Dáil Éireann and may be annulled within 21 days of the Dáil sitting following its making

The factors to be considered by the Minister are:

• efficiency and effectiveness of delivery
• the economic and social consequences of delay, disruption or failure of delivery
• interdependencies / interaction with other infrastructure projects or programmes
• consistency with the National Development Plan 2021 - 2030
• wider infrastructure policy considerations

These considerations largely reflect the wider objective of the National Development Plan 2021-2030: to improve the delivery of infrastructure through strategic investment.

Designation does not disapply environmental, planning or EU law. Instead, it activates a special statutory regime governing how public bodies must perform their functions.

Designation acts as a legal accelerator, shifting a project from sequential, disconnected approvals into a coordinated, priority‑driven governance framework.

Statutory duties on public bodies

Under the Act, “public bodies” include ministers, local authorities, and bodies that are publicly funded or established under law and includes regulators (such as An Coimisiún Pleanála, Environmental Protection Agency, Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, Commission for Regulation of Utilities, National Parks & Wildlife Service and others).

Once a project is designated, any public body exercising a function in relation to it becomes a “relevant public body” and is placed under binding statutory duties, including obligations to:

• prioritise critical infrastructure functions over other statutory functions where conflicts arise
• act expeditiously and avoid undue delay
• reduce authorisation timelines, insofar as practicable
• progress approvals in parallel with other bodies rather than sequentially
• cooperate on sequencing, dependencies and risk management
• allocate adequate administrative, technical and decision‑making resources

These duties materially change the standard of performance expected of public decision makers. Failure to comply may be open to legal challenge, particularly where delay or under-resourcing can be demonstrated.

The Act converts what have historically been non-binding coordination objectives into enforceable statutory obligations, reducing the risk of “stop start” delivery caused by disconnected processes. The Action Plan addresses fragmented governance in Pillar 3 (Coordination and Delivery Reform) in a similar fashion through enhanced coordination across government bodies and the introduction of a new central coordination role for the Department.

Ministerial oversight and directions

The Act grants the Minister enhanced powers to:

• require information, reports and analyses from relevant public bodies
• issue binding directions compelling public bodies to take specified measures to comply with their statutory duties

Ministerial direction provides a legal escalation mechanism where systemic delay, risk-aversion or resourcing failures threaten delivery / delivery timelines. This mirrors the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 (2015 Act) under which a relevant Minister may require a body to implement measures or outline its progress to maintain compliance with national climate obligations.

Interaction with climate and environmental law

The Supreme Court Judgment in Coolglass Wind Farm Limited -v- An Bord Pleanála [2026] IESC 5 (Coolglass) confirmed that Article 15 of the 2015 Act imposes an obligation on bodies to perform their functions in a manner consistent with climate objectives. See further details in our article: ALG advises Coolglass Wind Farm Limited in successful Supreme Court defence. The Act modifies the application of section 15 of the 2015 Act for designated projects, ensuring that climate compliance is:

• addressed at a State and programme level
• integrated into the designation and oversight process
• not re‑litigated at each individual decision point

Importantly, the Act does not disapply environmental assessment or other EU law obligations, aligning with commitments in Pillar 1 (Legal Reform) of the Action Plan, in particular Actions 1-5, that will pursue acceleration through procedural reform rather than legal deregulation.

Therefore, public bodies may still impose planning conditions relating to e.g. construction‑phase carbon mitigation, embodied carbon management or offsets or environmental insetting measures.

This approach reduces:

• exposure to legal challenge based on alleged environmental shortcutting, while still allowing timelines to be compressed through better coordination and prioritisation
• the risk of disproportionate carbon or climate conditions that effectively amount to refusal, while genuine environmental impact mitigation remains fully intact

Policy context – Circulars and best practice guidelines

In addition to the Act, the Action Plan is being implemented by way of Circulars.

Circular 16/2026

Circular 16/2026 introduces a mandatory reporting mechanism for court decisions with implications for infrastructure delivery. Bodies must:

• identify relevant judgments
• report them within 10 working days
• support coordinated State responses

This measure aims to ensure that judgments which may impact on the delivery of infrastructure projects do not trigger inconsistent or overly cautious internal practices that stall delivery.

Circular 18/2026

Circular 18/2026 reiterates Pillar 3 of the Action Plan by requiring all public bodies involved in infrastructure regulation to:

• streamline and rationalise both existing regulation and new regulation
• apply proportionality tests to all regulatory requirements
• coordinate decision-making across public bodies and eliminate redundant or duplicative approvals

This Circular gives effect to the Act’s intent across the administrative system. The Circular is supported by the Best Practice KPI Guidance for Regulators of Critical Infrastructure, which is discussed below.

Circular 24/2026

Circular 24/2026 gives effect to Action 30 of the Action Plan by establishing the Benefits Realisation Framework. The Circular and the Benefits Realisation Framework aim to leverage the existing analysis required by the Infrastructure Guidelines to demonstrate and communicate to the public the benefits of infrastructure projects.

The Circular is supported by:

• the Benefits Realisation Framework – Policy and Principles
• the Benefits Realisation Framework – Practical How to Guide
• the Benefits Blueprint

These are intended to be practical guides for how the benefits of infrastructure projects are to be communicated to the public. The guidance set out in the Benefits Realisation Framework includes:

• a clear explanation of why public investment is justified, making it clear why a project merits public funding and that benefits should be demonstrated, not implied
• starting with lived experience, moving away from technical or appraisal language and focusing on how people will recognise the impacts of infrastructure through their daily lives
• use of clear, concrete and service-based language
• transparency about how benefits arise over time

Best Practice KPI Guidance for Regulators of Critical Infrastructure

On the same day Circular 24/2026 was published, the Government published the Best Practice KPI Guidance for Regulators of Critical Infrastructure (KPI Guidance), which:

• gives effect to Action 9 of the Action Plan
• supports Circular 18/2026, discussed above
• provides practical guidance for Public Sector Bodies in setting, monitoring and reporting on KPIs and other metrics to support clarity, coordination and standardisation in the regulatory environment for infrastructure delivery

The KPI Guidance sets out the following principles for setting KPI targets:

• KPIs should be measured against a target or goal to enable both static and dynamic trend tracking;
• KPIs should be ambitious and aligned with the Action Plan objectives
• KPIs should be based on the SMART+C framework, being Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound and Comparable
• Regulatory bodies should set targets on any KPIs they deem necessary or relevant to supporting the overall objective of regulatory simplification for critical infrastructure
• KPIs should be published to promote transparency

For more information, please contact Ross Moore, John Dallas, Aisling O’Donoghue, Lachlan Muir, Alan Roberts, Alison Fanagan, Conor Owens, or a member of the Energy, Infrastructure & Natural Resources, the Environmental & Planning or the Construction & Engineering teams.

Date published: 8 July 2026