Civil servants to be encouraged to take greater risks

Civil servants and decision makers in the public service are to be encouraged to take much greater risks in order to speed up the delivery of major projects, under new reforms to be brought before Cabinet later today.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure Jack Chambers will outline to Cabinet a new risk appetite statement for critical infrastructure, such as houses, energy stations, public transport and water plants.

Examples of greater risk which would be tolerated include the purchase of land before final approval for a project has been secured, or accepting risk of litigation in a project provided there is strong governance in place.

Mr Chambers is likely to tell colleagues how a culture of risk aversion has emerged across the public sector, driven largely by concerns regarding legal challenges, planning and consenting complexity, reputational risk and cost escalation.

There is now a view in Government that excessive caution is contributing to project delay, higher costs and slower delivery of critical infrastructure, particularly in sectors such as water, transport and energy.

A report by the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce, which Mr Chambers chairs, found delivery timelines for energy and transport projects have doubled over the past two decades.

Mr Chambers will tell Cabinet the new approach to risk recognises that, in some cases, investments may be made that do not ultimately proceed or do not deliver all intended benefits, but that this may still be justified if it supports faster delivery across the wider system as a whole.

Individual government departments agencies and regulators with specific responsibility for the delivery of water, transport and energy infrastructure will also be encouraged to prepare their own sectoral Risk Appetite Statements.

Renewed efforts to increase apprentice recruitment

Separately, Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless has urged his Cabinet colleagues to renew their efforts to increase apprentice recruitment across their respective sectors.

Mr Lawless is expected to update Cabinet on the Public Service Apprenticeship Plan (2023-2025) and the next phase of apprenticeship expansion across the public service.

It is understood the target of 750 annual registrations by 2025 under the plan was not achieved, although Mr Lawless will tell Cabinet the plan delivered significant growth and broadened apprenticeship opportunities beyond traditional craft roles.

Three new apprenticeships in Business and Operations, Social Care and Paramedicine launched in 2026, creating new pathways into careers across the civil service, healthcare and social care sectors.

These programmes are part of a wider expansion that has increased the total number of apprenticeships available nationally to 87.

A new action plan for apprenticeship will be launched shortly.

Mr Chambers will bring to Cabinet - on behalf of Minister of State Kevin Boxer Moran - the annual report of the Office of Public Works (OPW) 2025.

Highlights include 11 flood relief schemes at construction stage, which will collectively protect some 2,900 properties upon completion.

The OPW has invested over €588m and has completed 56 flood relief schemes to date.

Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke to bring a memo on the Enterprise Ireland annual report, which shows Enterprise Ireland invested €49 million in Irish companies last year and despite tariffs, 2025 was a record year for exports with client exports reaching €39 billion.