Implementing Project Ireland 2040 commitments, including a promise of €700 million extra in capital investment for 2020, establishing a single infrastructure authority to achieve value-for-money and building safe and sustainable homes are priority recommendations made by Engineers Ireland in its Pre-Budget 2020 submission to Government, issued recently to the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform.

The representative body for engineers has urged the Government to increase infrastructure investment by its planned €700 million next year, regardless of the outcome of Brexit, to overcome challenges in housing, climate action and digitalisation. The organisation has also repeated its call for a single infrastructure authority to manage the “planning, procurement and delivery of large-scale projects and explore innovative financing,” according to its Director General, Caroline Spillane.

Ms Spillane said the organisation is generally supportive of the Government’s budgetary approach, “which appears to use an informed and strategic method to overcome current major challenges faced by our economy.” However, she said Engineers Ireland would encourage Government to build on “the progress made in Budget 2019 and to base their investment decisions on Project Ireland 2040 principles and objectives and to deliver sustained increases in public capital development.”