80. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the number of staff in his Department's new infrastructure division; the respective grades and areas of responsibility of staff; and if he will confirm the division's key responsibilities and deliverables for 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28801/25]
Sentiment score: 0.16
Will the Minister elaborate on the staffing composition of the new infrastructure division within his Department and on what he views as the key responsibilities and deliverables for the division in 2025? This is a key objective of the Minister and is contained in the programme for Government. Will he inform the House as to what the priorities are for the rest of this year?
Sentiment score: 0.00
That is not an insignificant number of staff. Can the Minister confirm that those from State agencies who will be working in the division will continue to be paid by their parent agencies? I assume that will be the case. The Minister was quoted in The Irish Times yesterday as saying that the acid test will be delivery. I assume the action plan on infrastructure delivery the Minister referred to will be published side by side with the review of the national development plan in July. That would make a lot of sense. In that action plan and the national development plan, will he commit to ensuring there are deadlines and milestones around key projects? That will be the way in which he and his Government colleagues will be held to account on actual delivery. Will he also confirm what countries he has looked at for best practice on delivering key infrastructure projects when considering setting up this Department? Are there examples we can look to for inspiration?
Sentiment score: 0.19
Will the Minister consider finding a way to include people with international experience from outside this jurisdiction in the division? I do not know the identities of the people involved and, in some ways, it is none of my business. I wish them well, because if they do a good job our country succeeds, so we should give this initiative a fair wind. However, a lot of the people involved in the infrastructure division and task force will themselves have considerable experience with delayed projects. I am not apportioning blame here, but they may have been responsible in their own positions for projects we would associate with significant delays. Will the Minister put on the record of the House an example of a project that has been delayed in recent years, and that has frustrated all of us, which he thinks would not have been delayed in the way it was if a division like this and the task force he referred to earlier had been in place? What particular project is his priority over the next few years? He said the acid test will be deliverables. What is he going to deliver? Will he name a project?
Sentiment score: 0.08
The Tánaiste will recall the House yesterday approved a motion developed by the Labour Party and formally supported by Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, the Green Party and others, mandating the Government to call for a special General Assembly of the United Nations to promote and instigate certain collective measures in respect of Gaza. Given the motion has effectively been adopted, how does the Government plan to implement it?
Sentiment score: 0.70
It is important that the motion be implemented and that the will of the House be accepted by the Government and implemented at every opportunity. We have used the opportunity of the special General Assembly well. In recent times, we called for the upgrading of Palestine's status in the context of the UN General Assembly and the UN more generally, which is to be welcomed. Ireland has led the way internationally on Gaza. There are no two ways about it. This time last year, we took the decision to recognise the State of Palestine. Collectively, across the Chamber, our views were prescient in respect of the EU-Israel association agreement. Other countries are now starting to pay attention and are catching up with Ireland. There will be an opportunity next month for us to continue to show courage and leadership in this space by doing exactly what the motion called for, that is, UN-backed and -administered aid immediately into Gaza, a ceasefire and the development of a UN-backed peacekeeping force.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I absolutely would. A window is now opening because we have seen a step change in the UK, France and Canada over the past week or ten days in respect of their perspective on Gaza, the genocide, what is happening there and what needs to happen. We have also seen a step change in Germany, especially in our sister party of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, SDP. The Chancellor has made interesting remarks about the completely unacceptable behaviour of the Israeli regime and state. Ireland will be chairing one of the working groups at the two-state solution conference next month. In order for the two-state solution that this House and State officially support, we need a viable Palestinian state. Quite frankly, the ethnic cleansing and genocide that have been perpetrated by Israel are designed to obliterate the notion and the understood legal position of the aspiration for a two-state solution. At this point, the Tánaiste may not be in a position to be crystal clear about our priorities when chairing that working group but he might put on the record what function we will have, which working group we will be chairing, if he is aware, and what opportunities we can exploit and use to ensure there continues to be momentum behind the motion adopted in the House yesterday.
Sentiment score: 0.30