Dublin Chamber presses infrastructure Budget agenda

Dublin Chamber has called on the Irish government to focus Budget 2027 on domestic measures within its control, including critical infrastructure delivery, housing supply, R&D tax reform, skills investment, and lower compliance burdens for small and medium-sized companies.

The Chamber’s Budget Submission argues that Ireland must improve competitiveness by removing bottlenecks in energy, water, public transport, housing, innovation, and enterprise support. It says government should prioritise projects including MetroLink, DART+ South West and West, BusConnects, LUAS Finglas, the Eastern and Midlands Water Supply Project, the Greater Dublin Drainage Project, and EirGrid’s Powering Up Dublin programme.

Dublin Chamber is also calling for at least 30,000 homes a year in the Greater Dublin Area, arguing that almost 162,000 people commute into Dublin from outside the county each day. It says half of the government’s national target of 60,000 homes a year should be built in the region.

Aebhric McGibney, Dublin Chamber Director of Public Affairs, said: “In a world of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, Government cannot compensate society for every eventuality, but it can best prepare Ireland to withstand whatever shocks come our way.”

He said that meant “controlling the controllables”, including removing administrative bottlenecks around critical infrastructure, improving value for money, and unlocking land for tens of thousands of homes in Dublin.

The Chamber’s submission echoes a wider business-policy debate across the UK and Ireland. The growth delivery test proposed in BCC urges new growth delivery test raised a similar question: whether public policy changes real company decisions on hiring, investment, skills, technology, and scaling.

Dublin’s infrastructure pressures feed directly into competitiveness. Housing shortages affect labour mobility, wage expectations, recruitment, and retention. Transport delays affect productivity, commuting patterns, office attendance, and access to talent. Water, drainage, and energy constraints affect development capacity and investment decisions. Infrastructure quality can carry as much weight as tax in expansion decisions.

The Chamber is also pressing for reform to Ireland’s R&D tax credit. It wants limits on outsourced research and development to be removed or significantly increased, arguing that many companies now rely on universities, higher education institutions, and specialist providers to undertake R&D. It says simpler access would make the scheme more effective for SMEs.

Innovation models have become more collaborative. Companies increasingly work with universities, software specialists, laboratories, consultancies, and technology partners rather than maintaining all research capacity in-house. Tax systems that assume R&D is mainly internal risk discouraging smaller companies from collaboration or preventing them from accessing specialist expertise.

The Chamber also wants a National Training Voucher Scheme to support employer-led upskilling and reskilling, alongside a streamlined tax system to reduce compliance costs and administrative complexity. Its argument is that bureaucracy has become a self-imposed drag on competitiveness at a time when Ireland cannot control many external shocks.

McGibney said: “Innovation will be critical to Ireland’s future competitiveness. Many businesses now rely on universities, higher education institutions and specialist providers to undertake research and development, yet current limits on outsourced R&D can discourage collaboration.”

Ireland remains attractive for international investment, but high housing costs, infrastructure delays, congestion, and administrative complexity can weaken that position. The Chamber’s Budget submission places competitiveness in practical foundations: homes, transport, water, energy, skills, tax simplicity, and support for companies trying to innovate.