1.1 | Introduction

1.1 | Introduction

Transport connects people and places. It facilitates opportunities and helps to create prosperous communities, from city centres to rural areas. The sector also has a key role to play in achieving our climate change targets and mitigating the worst effects of climate breakdown. The National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland (NIFTI) has been developed with these relationships in mind.

NIFTI is the Department of Transport’s high-level, strategic framework for future investment in the land transport network. Its purpose is to guide the development of the transport network in the decades ahead to enable the National Planning Framework and promote positive social, environmental and economic outcomes throughout the country. A number of key challenges in relation to transport investment have been identified and our strategic Investment Priorities are designed to address them.

The following section outlines why investment in transport is important and sets out the policy context within which NIFTI has been developed.