The National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) has announced its plans for €1 billion worth of social housing, education, justice and healthcare projects.

The pre-procurement and procurement processes are due to begin in 2016.

Projects include spending €300m on 1,500 social housing units, investing €200m into third-level institutions and spending €150m on both courthouses/justice projects and community nursing units/healthcare.

NDFA Director, Brian Murphy, said the organisation would provide financial advice on a c.€150m programme to provide accommodation for 2,300 students at the planned Grangegorman campus for Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).

The project is being taken forward by the Grangegorman Development Agency and Department of Education and Skills.

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Mr Murphy said: "Ireland is now firmly back on the radar of major international investors and their huge appetite for Irish infrastructure projects augurs well for our pipeline.

"This is good news for Irish taxpayers as it will make it easier to deliver projects that will bring real benefits to Ireland and to fund these projects on very attractive terms.

"We are very excited about the projects in our pipeline and we look forward to delivering high-quality social housing units, educational buildings, healthcare and courthouses over the coming years.

"These projects will help to address the serious infrastructure deficit which the country faces in these sectors."

The agency has also purchased or advised on €1.8bn worth of projects over the past 18 months.

These include 10 schools, seven courthouses, 14 primary care health centres, Grangegorman DIT and three road projects, some of which are already under construction.

Mr Murphy added it will be necessary to 'stringently' monitor costs as potential capacity constraints surface within the construction industry.

"These potential constraints are another positive sign of Ireland's strong economic recovery but we are confident we can address them effectively," he said.

(LM)