Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

15 Executive Summary Scaling up investment in infrastructure The combination of a growing economy and an increasing population will continue to exert pressure on Ireland’s environment. In light of these circumstances, it is imperative that we make substantial long-term investments in key infrastructure to make environmental protection a cornerstone of our future development. In this context there is a need for continued large- scale investment in waste water treatment systems to bring them up to standard. Similarly, many drinking water supplies lack robust treatment to guarantee their long-term resilience and safety requiring improvements in existing infrastructure. Delivering on national ambition for renewable electricity will require substantial investment in wind and solar and will require unprecedented levels of change in the National Grid up to 2030. In the case of transport, substantial investment is needed to deliver on the key strategic public transport construction projects. There is also a substantial need to deliver housing for our growing population. In resource management, a substantial investment gap exists in delivering the circular economy transition which will require investment in repair, reuse and remanufacturing capacity and in delivering infrastructure for waste segregation, collection, treatment and recycling. Collectively, these infrastructural needs constitute an extremely large delivery challenge to provide Ireland with the assets needed to meet the challenges of its growing population and economy while providing the systems that protect the environment. Investment decisions made in this decade will define the infrastructure that will be available to our society for the next 50 years and these need to be fully aligned with achieving the transition to a low-carbon society. Maintaining and enhancing current investment will be key to delivering this infrastructure and will need to be a critical facet of national development over the coming decade.