I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 33 together. As Minister, I am responsible for setting overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring the relative expenditure and delivery at departmental level. In the national development plan review 2021, the Government originally committed €165 billion in capital investment for the period from 2021 to 2030, and subsequently agreed to additional funding of €2.25 billion in March 2024 for the period from 2024 to 2026. The revised national development plan, published in July, sets out €275.4 billion in public capital investment to 2035, which is the largest and most significant capital injection in our economy in the history of the State. Following the agreement in July of this year of the national development plan review, gross capital ceilings for all sectors have been set out to 2030. While the Government has prioritised investment towards the critical growth-enabling sectors of housing, energy, water and transport, all Departments are now tasked with developing sectoral plans for the upcoming five years out to 2030. These plans will detail priority projects to be progressed, and Departments must ensure these are affordable within the overall capital expenditure ceilings, as agreed by the Government. These plans will be published in the coming weeks. The Deputy referenced strategic outcomes 10 and 4. Strategic outcome 10 refers to access to quality childcare, education and health services. The Government has allocated €795 million to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and €9.25 billion to the Department of Health for the 2026 to 2030 period. A range of projects have already been delivered under this since 2021, including, for example, a €6.9 billion investment in capital infrastructure for primary and post-primary schools resulting in 1,200 projects completed, many of which are in the Deputy's constituency; the establishment of 18 Sláintecare healthy communities in disadvantaged areas under the healthy Ireland framework; the Sláintecare healthy homes scheme, from which 4,500 people benefit; and the ongoing work in communities from a public health perspective. National strategic outcome 4 relates to sustainable mobility and a commitment to a more environmentally sustainable public transport system. Given the nature of this strategic priority, many projects take a number of years to fully deliver. Transport has been highlighted and focused on as a critical growth-enabling area in the national development plan review. A total of €22.3 billion was allocated to the Department of Transport for the 2026 to 2030 period. A further €2 billion was allocated to support low-carbon transportation projects, including projects such as MetroLink, under the national development plan review. Considerable progress has been made on a range of projects across the country under this objective since the 2021 review, including, for example, planning permissions for nine bus corridors under BusConnects Dublin; final network details for BusConnects Cork; planning permission for BusConnects Galway; planning implementation for BusConnects Limerick; and work is now ongoing on BusConnects Waterford. Over €320 million has been invested in walking and cycling projects through the active travel infrastructure programme. Full lists of projects and programmes for each of the ten strategic outcomes are regularly published by my Department. The capital investment tracker provides a composite update on all major investments where there is an estimated project cost of over €20 million. There is a detailed map of each of the projects relating to each of the specific and strategic outcomes. It is important to balance the conversation. We need to accelerate delivery, and we are fronting up on doing an extensive amount more on capital investment in our economy, but a huge amount has been delivered. We are seeing that in our school system in terms of social infrastructure. We are also seeing it with a lot of the public transport projects and continued investment in the road network, as well as the delivering of outcomes for bed capacity in our health system. We need to balance the conversation. A lot of infrastructure is being delivered but we want to do more and do it quicker.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I thank the Deputy. We both share the same constituency with a lot of young families. I share her objective of ensuring we develop more places and more opportunities to have childcare facilities and affordable childcare across our community and indeed in communities across the country. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is working with her allocation of €795 million over the next five years. Obviously, that includes children, equality and disability. She is working on a multiyear sectoral plan to set out specific steps and overall allocations in respect of some of the childcare schemes the Deputy referenced. As part of the budget, we agreed to continue. Obviously, the increased demand for childcare across our economy has had to be funded in the context of budget 2026. An additional 35,000 places under the national childcare scheme are being supported in that context. We want to complement many of the smaller childcare providers that have developed their own capacity in communities across the country. Obviously, the State will be doing more and the sectoral investment plan for childcare will put the detail on that and provide the specific allocations. We have a wider vision on childcare in the programme for Government whereby we want to make progress across successive budgets when it comes to the affordability initiatives but also the capital allocations, which will be set out in the coming weeks.
Sentiment score: 0.26
The Deputy and I are in agreement in lots of areas. DART+ West is a project that is not caught in the paralysis, the delays and bureaucracy. It is one that we can try to commence quickly. Where we have opportunities on public transport, we should be using the increased capital allocation from a transport perspective to get projects moving. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is working on the sectoral investment plan for the Department of Transport, working with TII and the National Transport Authority. DART+ West is a really good example of a project we need to advance over the coming years. A critical part of the transport sector investment plan will be setting out the timeline for that and putting the detail around that so we give clear certainty to the market about our intent. Trying to attract more international contractors will be critical so we have a broader transformation of public transport investment over the coming years. That will be a priority as part of the capital plan and it is also a priority in the existing national development plan.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I know. Quickly.
Sentiment score: 0.00
In line with the commitments made in the programme for Government, a new infrastructure division has been established within my Department. Led by a deputy secretary general, this division is focused on how the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State can be accelerated. It comprises a blend of experienced civil servants and sectoral experts with direct experience in infrastructure delivery, many of whom have been redeployed into my Department from key State agencies. The work of the infrastructure division is supported by the accelerating infrastructure task force, which I chair. This includes six independent experts with extensive infrastructure delivery experience, alongside six ex officio members drawn from commercial State bodies at the forefront of infrastructure development, as well as representatives from the local government sector. The new division has recently undertaken a major exercise to systematically identify the most important barriers impeding the timely delivery of capital projects. As part of this work plan, officials met with over 50 key stakeholders involved in the development of infrastructure in our country and received nearly 170 formal responses to a public consultation exercise that was conducted in parallel. This was complemented by engagement events, including a session at the national economic dialogue and a regional event in Athlone in June. Based on this consultation and research, we published the report on the emerging themes on the barriers to infrastructure in July. The report identified 12 key barriers to the timely delivery of infrastructure, spanning the regulatory environment, planning and legal frameworks, and internal government systems. It highlights the urgent need for infrastructure delivery systems that are fit for purpose, efficient and economically viable. The infrastructure division, in close collaboration with the task force, is now preparing the final report and an action plan to address these barriers. I will present this report to Government in the coming weeks. It will outline a series of targeted, high-impact reforms designed to address all the identified barriers and to deliver critical infrastructure more quickly across the economy with a clear focus on reducing timelines and improving outcomes.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I know the critical need to deliver more beds in the mid-west region. Following the HIQA report, it is important that we do that in the context of the new allocation to the Department of Health and as part of the national development plan. I agree with much of what the Deputy has said. The guidelines, as they are, are probably too conservative and there is a need for reform. That is why we want to go higher, bigger and quicker when it comes to infrastructure and planning for it, be it in the context of bed capacity, social infrastructure or critical economic infrastructure. Rebalancing regulation and removing some of the barriers, steps and internal systems will all be part of the report. These are practical steps that narrow timelines but also rebalance risk. Increasing the risk appetite is critical if we want to deliver more social and economic infrastructure. It is a matter of backing public servants to make the decisions and get on with doing what we know is required, be it in terms of healthcare infrastructure or water, energy, transport and housing infrastructure across our economy. There are too many constraints that promote a culture of risk aversion. Risk aversion permeates the system, and that is why we have long lists and not delivery now. Part of what we are doing in our infrastructure reforms is cutting a lot of that out, addressing and reforming internal systems and really focusing on delivery. We will be able to set out the detail and the timelines that will shorten as a result of the changes we are going to make.
Sentiment score: -0.13
I agree the proposals need to be practical, quick and make an impact on the wider delivery of economic and social infrastructure. The guidelines the Deputy referred to, which have multiple gateways, need to be reformed and changed. There is too much circular analysis, which in many instances does not add value and adds time. That is why there is going to be change. Some of the reforms we will be introducing will be practical steps that will reduce the time and help deliver infrastructure better. The Deputy is correct that when developing a site, there should be better intensification and use of it, particularly if it is a hospital site that has only a limited amount of land available and potential future needs. We will be able to detail actions that will make a genuine difference and practical steps we can control within internal systems in government and the State, and then ensure we promote reform. Reform is as important as the allocations around expenditure policy. The obsession in this House is often who gets what and how much. Reform is the most important aspect of resolving issues with infrastructure delivery and rebalancing excessive regulation that is not adding value and is holding back growth. That is what I intend to do.
Sentiment score: 0.20
Following the change of name of my Department upon the formation of the Government, a procurement process was undertaken to replace the Department’s signage at the Government Buildings complex. After the new signage had been installed, it was noted that one word had been misspelt. The external supplier of the signage confirmed that it made this error when producing it and has replaced the signage at no additional cost. The Department of Finance undertook the procurement on behalf of my Department in the context of shared facilities services between the two Departments. While we have not yet received an invoice, the quoted price for the original design, manufacture and installation of the external signage at the entrances was €8,460, excluding VAT. I highlight again that there was no additional cost associated with rectifying the supplier’s error.
Sentiment score: -0.06
I have set out the position. Very few Ministers are directly sending items for procurement or are directly involved in the procurement process. When this emerged, the facts were established. The signage is being replaced at no additional cost. Ensuring value for money and financial management are critical in all elements of public expenditure management. At a wider level, we are reviewing public financial procedures to strengthen accountability and fiscal discipline across government when it comes to the medium-term fiscal and structural plans. Public servants take this very seriously. To give balance to much of what is said here, there are many good projects delivered by people who believe in our public service and do deliver, in many cases on budget and on time, across many sectors in our economy. It is important to balance that with the concerns the Deputy has raised over the need to deliver quicker. A bigger part of the infrastructure conversation is the need to address risk aversion in decision-making, whereby we have lists but not delivery. Better risk appetite regarding capital infrastructure will be a part of the reforms we will have to introduce.
Sentiment score: 0.05
The relevant Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, is doing extensive work on procurement reform. She has led extensive engagement across the country with SMEs and businesses on how we can have better engagement in the tendering process to have more competition and participation by SMEs. There are reforms happening at EU level as part of that too. All elements of streamlining are our focus so as to deliver infrastructure better across our economy and also provide value for citizens regarding what is delivered. The Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, is advancing procurement reforms, which we hope to publish by the end of the year.
Sentiment score: 0.39
The review of the national development plan published in July represents the largest capital investment and injection in our economy in the history of the State. As part of the NDP review, the Government agreed substantive annual sectoral allocations for 2026 to 2030 and overall Government capital ceilings to 2035. The review sets out total public capital investment of €275.4 billion to 2035. This comprises €202.4 billion in Exchequer voted capital from 2026 to 2035. Of this, €102.4 billion is being allocated for the next five years, which is an additional €24 billion on what was previously allocated. A further €10 billion in equity and fund releases is being provided for strategic megaprojects in water, energy and transport. This brings the total additional capital investment to €34 billion for the period to 2030. My Department is responsible, as the Deputy mentioned, for the infrastructure guidelines, which replaced the public spending code for capital appraisal since the end of 2023. These set the value for money requirements and guidance for evaluating, planning and managing Exchequer-funded capital projects. Management and delivery of investment projects and public services within allocation and within the national frameworks is a key responsibility of every Department, Accounting Officer and Minister. Capital spend is monitored, valued and reviewed each month. Actual spend is compared to the budgeted voted allocation and any variances require an explanation to be submitted to the relevant Vote section in my Department. Capital sanction is provided to Departments in line with the public financial procedures. Any proposed expenditure that does not fall within the scope of the capital sanction must be submitted to my Department for review and sanction must be sought before any expenditure can occur. Failure to seek and obtain the sanction of my Department may result in a line Department becoming liable to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General and subject to examination by the Committee of Public Accounts. It is also important to highlight, as also set out in the public financial procedures, the role of the Accounting Officer for each Department, which is central in terms of accountability, delivery, propriety and ensuring value for money. Each Accounting Officer is personally responsible for the safeguarding of public funds and property under his or her control, for the regularity of all the transactions in each appropriation account and for the efficiency and economy of administration in his or her Department. I know I am running out of time, but I will set out further details.
Sentiment score: 0.15
We will reform some of the infrastructure guidelines. Some of that is intended to try to remove some of the excessive time that projects take as they move through the infrastructure life cycle. Also central to wider expenditure control will be a reform of public financial procedures and ensuring for certain Departments that we need to have better fiscal discipline in terms of overall expenditure management. Accountability is central there when it comes to Departments or agencies under their remit. We have commenced a review of the public financial procedures. We will be able to set out further direction on the infrastructure guidelines when we publish the task force report. All of that is intended to deliver more, but also to ensure that we have accountability and oversight around overall spending of public funds.
Sentiment score: 0.18