Government establishes joint clearing house to speed up infrastructure delivery
New forum brings utilities, transport bodies and local authorities together to remove delays in major projects
20 January 2026 | đŸ“§Â editor@breakingground.news
The Government has formally established a Joint Utilities and Transport Clearing House aimed at accelerating the delivery of critical infrastructure, with Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Jack Chambers TD updating Cabinet on its establishment and first meeting today.
The Clearing House marks the implementation of Action 21 of the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. Its core objective is to improve coordination between utilities, transport authorities, relevant Government departments and local authorities, addressing long-standing delays linked to fragmented processes and overlapping responsibilities.
The group provides a structured national forum to identify and resolve issues affecting the timely delivery of infrastructure, replacing previous project-by-project arrangements with a consistent coordination model. It has a defined mandate to examine and address administrative, procedural and structural barriers within Government that are slowing the rollout of major infrastructure.
Initial priorities for 2026 include establishing mechanisms for early and continuous engagement on major electricity, water and transport projects, reviewing and updating codes of practice and technical standards, and improving coordination of linear infrastructure works. The latter is intended to reduce duplication of works, minimise disruption on roads and sites, and lower overall project costs.
Speaking following the first meeting, Minister Chambers said the Clearing House is designed as a practical intervention to remove barriers to delivery. He said bringing utilities, transport bodies and local government into a single forum would allow issues to be identified and resolved more quickly, keeping major projects on schedule.
He added that the initiative is focused on fostering a culture of coordination, accountability and delivery, stressing that faster infrastructure provision is essential to meeting national housing, transport and climate targets. Minister Chambers acknowledged that progress may require compromise across sectors but said accelerating delivery is in the wider public interest.
For the construction and civil engineering sectors, the Clearing House signals a shift towards earlier coordination and more predictable engagement across major publicly funded infrastructure projects, with potential implications for programme certainty, sequencing of works and cost control.
