There is no funding allocated in 2026 to explore the feasibility of a railway link to Shannon Airport – and the Government has not given approval for all the staff sought by Limerick’s mayor John Moran for his flagship Smart Homes programme.
Hurdles faced by Mr Moran in progressing these ambitions have emerged following a release of correspondence from Ireland’s only directly elected mayor to Government ministers.
Mr Moran – a former Department of Finance secretary general turned independent politician – was elected mayor in 2024.
Records released by Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) under the Freedom of Information Act show Mr Moran’s recent requests of Government ministers.
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On September 5th, Mr Moran wrote to Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien seeking support for “two strategic priorities” for Shannon Airport.
The first was asking that Shannon Airport be included in the State’s Regional Airports Programme (RAP), which provides financial support to airports that handle fewer than one million passengers. There were more than 2.1 million passengers at Shannon in 2024.
The Department of Transport did not rule this out in a statement in December saying there was a Government commitment to develop a new RAP for 2026 to 2030 and consideration was being given to “broadening the scope of programme eligibility to allow for the inclusion of airports with greater than one million passengers”. It said Mr Moran has been “been advised of this position”.
In his September letter, Mr Moran – whose previous roles included a short stint as a board member of Shannon Airport Group before he became mayor – also urged Mr O’Brien’s department to consider enhanced transport access to the airport and listed “feasibility funding” for the Shannon Airport railway link among “key priorities for Budget 2026”.
Figures published along with the All-Island Strategic Rail Review put the cost of a railway link to Shannon at €100 million to €200 million at 2021 prices.
The Department of Transport statement to The Irish Times said it had “not committed funding for next year to examine the issue of rail connectivity to Shannon Airport. This can be considered for following years, depending on the budgetary situation”. It also said: “There is significant ongoing investment in rail in the Limerick area.”
A statement from Mr Moran’s office said: “The Mayor has been very clear in his engagements that Shannon Airport must be recognised as a strategic national asset.”
It also said: “Discussions with Government are ongoing, and it would be premature to interpret those while national decisions are still being shaped.”
Separately, Mr Moran wrote to Minister for Housing James Browne on September 12th, seeking “urgent sanction of resources” for his Smart Homes programme.
Mr Moran hopes to deliver 2,000 modular homes on State lands in time for the Ryder Cup golf tournament taking place in Adare, Co Limerick, in 2027.
The intention is for the units to house Ryder Cup staff, but after that they would provide homes for people while permanent housing solutions are under construction.
In his letter to Mr Browne, Mr Moran said the Department of Housing sanctioning just two of six posts “required to progress the Smart Housing programme” had “fundamentally jeopardised the delivery of the programme”.
“Without the full technical and administrative team we will simply not have the capacity to move from feasibility into planning, procurement and delivery within the required time frame,” he said.
Mr Moran wrote that the six posts were needed to “work on as many publicly owned sites in parallel as possible”.
He asked Mr Browne to “interrogate your officials who recommended this decision to see if we can get back to driving rapidly on all of the sites”.
Mr Moran also wrote that he would also like to discuss with Mr Browne a previously outlined request for the provision of €2.5 million for “design team costs which are also critical”.
A Department of Housing statement in December said it had sanctioned the employment of two project managers “to advance a proof-of-concept Smart Housing project on a single site”. They will also “provide capacity to advance a number of additional sites to planning”.
It also said: “The department has indicated to LCCC that it will fund the proof-of-concept project, including design costs incurred, subject to further details being provided.
“The Department will continue to engage with LCCC on the Smart Housing project and its potential to provide a template to deliver housing at scale in the Limerick area.”
A LCCC statement said: “The core Smart Housing concept has now been approved as a national pathfinder under the Government’s New Housing Plan and the mayor is committed to maintaining ambition while progressing delivery at the fastest pace possible.”
It also said: “Two posts were sanctioned on a temporary fixed-term basis in November 2025 to progress the pathfinder and these staff are due to on-board shortly. The pathfinder relates to approximately 150 homes.
“Given the reduced resourcing, the programme team has undertaken a review to determine what is fair, reasonable and achievable within the current capacity.”
LCCC also said: “The initial programme assumed the delivery of 2,692 homes across 10 sites. The impact of reduced resources has reduced the programme to 750 homes over five sites, which includes the pathfinder of 150 homes.
“This is a practical sequencing decision, not a reduction in long-term ambition” and “additional sites are being actively progressed in parallel” to “ensure no time is lost once full resourcing is in place”.
“Delivery of the Smart Housing programme by the deadline is still expected despite the delays experienced. This is subject to timely planning and other consent processes as well as resourcing falling into place,“ it said.
