The gutting of nature from the Infrastructure, Climate & Nature Fund to finance transport, energy and water infrastructure projects in the National Development Plan is very alarming, deeply disappointing and flies in the face of the Government’s previous guarantees on nature restoration, according to the Environmental Pillar, the national platform of environmental charities.
The decision is even more concerning given that the Programme for Government committed that the Infrastructure, Climate & Nature Fund (1) will “ensure ongoing protection for our environment for future generations”, while also committing to the development of Ireland’s Nature Restoration Plan which requires ambitious nature restoration at land and at sea under the EU’s flagship Nature Restoration Law.
However, the National Development Plan announced by the Government this week has allocated nothing to nature, instead taking 3.15 billion euro from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund for transport, energy and water infrastructure (2).
Oisin Coghlan, Policy Advisor to the Environmental Pillar, said: “It appears that the Government is saying one thing but doing the opposite on nature restoration. It has decided to gut Nature from the Infrastructure, Climate & Nature Fund, instead using the budget to fund investment in transport, energy and water infrastructure. The Environmental Pillar has repeatedly criticised the absence of ringfencing for nature within the ICN fund, criticism that has been fully vindicated this week by the government’s shortsightedness.
There is now a genuine concern that nature restoration funding is losing out to infrastructure projects that prioritise economic growth over measures to address the biodiversity emergency.”
The lack of any funding for nature in the financial allocations for the NDP is even more shocking and worrying given that the State is currently engaging in an extensive consultation process involving farmers, fishers and environmentalists to inform the development of a national Nature Restoration Plan. The financing of that plan remains a key concern for all stakeholders.
Fintan Kelly, Agriculture Policy Officer with the Environmental Pillar, said: “Ireland’s Nature Restoration Plan has to be underpinned by significant investment. The Government has repeatedly told farmers that any nature restoration under the Nature Restoration Law would be funded and voluntary and that the main burden of restoration would take place on public lands. They have clearly been misleading farmers and Irish society as there is no indication that the government intends to allocate new and additional funding towards nature restoration. And there is no sign that the government is willing to take the kind of action that is needed to utilise Coillte and Bord Na Mona lands to the extent that is needed to achieve Ireland’s legally binding targets.”
The Environmental Pillar is calling for the ringfencing of a substantial proportion of the Climate and Nature Fund for spending on nature. A minimum investment of €463.5m per annum is needed for nature restoration (3).
Dr. Elaine McGoff, Environmental Pillar spokesperson and Head of Advocacy at An Taisce, said:“Nature is conspicuous by its absence in the National Development Plan. Given that we are at a crucial time in relation to the biodiversity crisis in Ireland, it is inexcusable that no funding was earmarked for nature restoration. Biodiversity supports and underpins our society, whether it is food production or clean air or a stable climate. It is imperative that nature is adequately funded. We are calling on the Taoiseach to urgently clarify to citizens and farmers how they intend to fund Ireland’s Nature Restoration Plan.”
The government’s NDP comes off the back of the European Commission’s proposal last week on the next EU Budget (Multi-financial Framework) and Common Agricultural Policy 2028-2034. The Commission’s proposed new budget contains no dedicated budget or ring fencing for environmental and climate objectives. Pillar II of the CAP which contains the budget for Agri-environmental schemes has been absorbed into a single Agricultural budget where environmental payments will have to compete with direct payments to farmers.
The European Commission also proposes to repeal the EU LIFE Programme, the only dedicated fund for environment, nature, and climate.
Ends
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Ciaran Brennan
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Notes to the editor:
(1) https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/programme-for-government-securing-irelands-future.pdf
(2) “The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund’s purpose is to support State expenditure (i) where there is a significant deterioration in the economic or fiscal position of the State, and (ii) in the years 2026 to 2030, on designated environmental projects”. Source: NTMA – https://www.ntma.ie/business-areas/future-ireland-funds
The Government is not proposing to invoke the “economic deterioration” provision, designed “to provide for countercyclical capital expenditure in the event of an economic or fiscal downturn” (NTMA), so the all the allocated spending for 2026 to 2030 must therefore be for “designated environmental projects”.
Under the law (Section 20), such projects must contribute to the achievement of various national and EU environmental regulations such as on water quality, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, the Birds and Habitats Directives, the National Biodiversity Action Plan and the Wildlife Act.
The proposed allocation of the €3.15 billion that can be spent before 2030, laid out by Government this week, contains no allocation for nature and looks much more like what the fund would be spent on if the “economic deterioration” condition was being invoked to ensure “countercyclical capital expenditure” in infrastructure. But in this case there is over €100 billion of other money allocated to infrastructure by 2030 under the NDP so that provision clearly does not apply. It is all the more disappointing therefore that the dedicated Climate and Nature Fund is being diverted from its nature focus to further boost infrastructure spending which is not short of other funding allocations.
The current proposed allocation from Government is:
- €2 billion to for the Department of Transport to support low-carbon transportation (specifically the Metrolink)
- €500 million for the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment to fund projects and programmes that will support climate mitigation and renewable energy development
- €650 million for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for projects and programmes that will support improvements in water quality
This new proposal is significantly at variance with the proposal for this €3.15 billion that was brought to Cabinet by Minister Eamon Ryan before the election in November but blocked by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (RTE). The breakdown of that proposed allocation was as follows:
- €1.2 billion for public sector retrofitting
- €630 million to to the farming and conservation sectors, so they can deliver the Nature Restoration Plan.
- €788 million for investment in district heating, anaerobic digestion, clean industrial heating and modern methods of construction
- €480 million on supporting innovation in new technologies such as long-term battery storage
Source: Irish Times.
So in this week’s proposal from Government the €630 million for nature restoration is gone, and the €1.2 billion for public sector retrofitting seems to be gone. Instead €2 billion is being allocated to Metrolink, on top of the separate allocation of €22 billion to the Department of Transport for capital expenditure to 2030.
In order for these proposed allocations to actually be financed by the ICN fund the Minister for Public Expenditure will have to bring a specific proposal to Government by 31 July of the year in question [section 21], so there is still time for the Government to rectify the proposed allocations to restore nature as a focus of the spending.
(3)
Financial Needs Assessment: Initial estimates of the expenditure needed per year to support the initial 30% target of the NRL
| Farmland | Peatland | Native Woodland | Freshwater | Coasts | Marine | Total | |
| Additional spend | €40m | €8.5m | €11m | €26m | €6.5m | €15m |
€107m |
| Total 30 % Restoration | €280m | €63.5m | €25m (+€10m) | €50m | €11m | €24m |
€453.5m (+€10m) |
The Biodiversity Financial Needs Assessment, McGuinness, S. and Bullock, C. (2024) “The Financial Needs Assessment (FNA) the first step in estimating the additional funding required to meet the targets of Ireland’s National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) 2023–2027 and the EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL). It focuses on key ecosystems—peatlands, native forests, freshwater, farmland, coastal and marine areas—and estimates the land needing restoration. A supporting Resource Mobilisation Strategy outlines ways to secure the necessary investment.” https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/entities/publication/32d63621-c2f0-4da0-aa50-40d6076a4c76