The largest fund for housing infrastructure for many years will be announced on Tuesday by Minister for Housing James Browne.
Mr Browne will bring a memo to the weekly Cabinet meeting informing it of the commencement of the €1 billion fund.
Following the meeting, he will make the first funding call to local authorities and to State agencies and utilities, such as Uisce Éireann and the ESB.
The fund is designed to give direct investment to infrastructure needed for new housing developments such as water, network connections, road and access infrastructure and other services.
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It is one of several new policy measures that are targeted at increased activation of land. The policy is geared to remove obstacles, such as a lack of services, to the building of new developments. The funding will be available for public and private developments. The Department of Housing has said it will help de-risk the development of sites in towns and cities.
The Housing Activation Office will manage the fund. It is expected that a new chief executive for the office will be announced in the coming weeks. Mr Browne had initially identified former head of Nama Brendan McDonagh for the role, but he withdrew when questions were raised about whether he would retain his salary of more than €400,000 in the new role.
Separately, Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan will bring a memo to Cabinet promising “significant change” in the Arts Council as he seeks approval of a report on its failed €6.7 million IT project.
The report, compiled by Prof Niamh Brennan, sets out 149 recommendations and includes proposed legislative changes.
The report concludes that the business case for the project understated the costs and that the project’s scope changed. It pointed to governance failures and an “immature risk culture”. It also found the Arts Council lacked ICT expertise.
The Department of the Arts was criticised for its “informal” oversight and its failure to escalate issues to the appropriate level within the department.
Also updating the Cabinet will be Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke. He will tell of strong job growth in 2025, with record employment of more than 2.8 million last year.
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Employment growth is expected to average at 2 per cent in 2026 and 2027, which would result in annual average increases in employment of 53,000 jobs.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon will give details to ministerial colleagues on the implementation of the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme.
This is one of the schemes that have been introduced in relatively recent years to reverse the trend of declining biodiversity and deteriorating water quality in rural Ireland, which is partly attributable to intensive farming.
Participating farmers contribute to a range of environmental, biodiversity, climate and water quality objectives. More than a third of all farms are now participating in the scheme and drawing down some €741 million in funding.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee will update her Cabinet colleagues on the latest developments with Greenland, particularly the trade implications of new tariffs threatened by United States president Donald Trump.
Minister for the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary will officially publish the plan for the Irish Language in the public services following the Cabinet meeting. The plan will cover the next two years.
