Failure to reform procurement risks delaying thousands of homes and billions in infrastructure

The Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (ACEI) has warned that unless the Government urgently adopts reforms set out in its Budget 2026 submission, Ireland faces further severe delays to thousands of homes and billions of euro worth of vital infrastructure.

The submission outlines how Ireland’s housing and infrastructure delivery pipeline is being undermined by unfair contracting arrangements, underinvestment in digitalisation and outdated procurement practices. Unless these issues are resolved, Ireland will fall further behind on the delivery of housing, transport, water and climate-critical projects, costing the State time, money and social progress.

Procurement is holding Ireland back
A core ACEI policy recommendation is reform of public procurement to ensure that quality rather than lowest price is accepted. Current practices reward unrealistically low prices that ultimately drive disputes, increase costs and delay delivery. ACEI proposes a better system that prioritises bids closest to the median price – an approach that safeguards quality, discourages reckless undercutting and ensures better value for the taxpayer. The ACEI recommends that an 80/20 price quality ratio is utilised and that the bid closer to the median price be selected – this will effectively end underbidding and still generate value for money and quality innovation for the State.

“Lowest-price procurement is a false economy,” said ACEI Director General Shane Dempsey. “It strangles innovation, undermines collaboration and creates bottlenecks that delay homes, schools, transport links and water systems. Reform is cost-neutral and will immediately improve delivery outcomes.”

Housing and infrastructure targets will never be achieved
The submission warns that unless Government acts, the State’s ability to deliver its own targets – including 60,000 new homes and critical infrastructure under the €200 billion National Development Plan – cannot be achieved in its lifetime or indeed at any point in the future.

Consulting engineers highlight that the design phase is the best opportunity to accelerate timelines, reduce costs and cut carbon, yet current contractual barriers are pushing skilled firms away from public sector projects.
Dempsey said: “Consulting engineers are increasingly avoiding public sector projects due to the risk they pose to business vis-à-vis private sector projects. The delays we see regularly arising from planning and the unfair risk they allocate to SME businesses mean the attractiveness of critical housing and infrastructure projects is significantly diminished. For example, due to the overly legalistic approach of the likes of the Housing Finance Agency, consulting engineers will select other projects to avoid risk.”

Call for Action
ACEI is calling on Government to:
• Reform procurement to prevent lowest-bid selection and adopt median-based tendering
• Resource contracting authorities with multi-annual budgets to give certainty and enable investment
• Accelerate digitalisation and skills investment to strengthen industry capacity
• Address unfair contract clauses and onerous collateral warranties that drive up insurance costs and deter participation.

“Budget 2026 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” said Dempsey. “Adopting these reforms will unlock delivery of homes and infrastructure at pace. Ignoring them will cost Ireland dearly – in lost time, lost homes and lost competitiveness.”

At the ACEI’s annual conference earlier this year, leading consulting engineers highlighted the need for political leadership in cutting through red tape that’s strangling the delivery of housing and infrastructure. The State has, said Dempsey, stymied itself in well-intentioned red tape over the past decade by establishing agencies, regulations and processes that are now contrary to accelerating the delivery of essential infrastructure and housing.

“This costs the State billions in delays to critical infrastructure, particularly in the water, energy and transport arenas. The actual design and construction time of housing and infrastructure is a minor fraction of the overall delivery period. Our hope is that the recently formed infrastructure taskforce provides an alignment architecture that the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister can use to align the State’s agencies, processes and decision-making.”

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Michael McDonnell Managing Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine & Plan Magazine

Email: michael@irishconstruction.com      WWW.MCDMEDIA.IE