The Government’s new Housing Strategy has now been published. While the plan reaffirms important measures to improve housing availability and affordability, Dublin Chamber emphasises that the priority must now shift to implementation and to removing the barriers that impede the delivery of housing, utilities, and the services required to support sustainable and functioning communities. Dublin Chamber maintains that 30,000 homes per year, or at least half of all future planned accommodation, must be built in the Greater Dublin Area, to better reflect population growth and the concentration of Ireland’s workforce in the region. We also continue to call for the systemic obstacles in planning and delivery to be addressed, and we look forward to the publication of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce Report in the coming weeks.

Earlier this month, we were delighted to welcome AnnMarie Farrelly, CEO of Fingal County Council, for a presentation to members on Building a Dublin that Works. AnnMarie outlined progress across housing, infrastructure and public realm projects, including MetroLink and the planned expansion at Dublin Airport. Dublin Chamber commends Fingal County Council’s constructive role in supporting a thriving, future-ready region and will continue to work closely on our shared interests. More on the Fingal Development Strategy is available here.

Following the launch of our Q3 Business Outlook report, we wrote to all Government representatives and Senior Civil Servants this month to highlight evolving business sentiment from last quarter. We highlighted that revenue and profit expectations have stabilised modestly for firms across the region, while cost pressures remain high. Staffing plans have also steadied after a sharp dip in Q2, reflecting cautious confidence among Dublin businesses. We were pleased to discuss these insights directly with many of the elected officials present at our Oireachtas Reception this week. The full report is available here.

Dublin Chamber made a submission on behalf of Chambers Ireland to the Cost of Doing Business Advisory Forum on Regulation and Infrastructure Delivery this month. Among our recommendations, we called for concurrent planning and licensing approvals to speed up infrastructure delivery, as well as the implementation of the Administration of Civil Justice reforms to reduce excessive litigation and delays. We also called for a single lead agency for multi-department projects with full decision authority and multi-annual capital funding to provide certainty. The full submission is available to read here.