As Minister for public expenditure, infrastructure, public service reform and digitisation, I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at departmental level. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects or sectoral policy strategies within the allocations initially rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case. Each Minister is responsible for deciding on the priority programmes and projects that will be delivered under their remit within the national development plan, NDP, and for setting out the timelines for delivery. As a result, expenditure is allocated and monitored on a departmental basis. The Government has committed €165 billion of funding for capital investment under the NDP to 2030. An additional €2.25 billion was allocated in 2024 as part of an update to the NDP which set out revised capital ceilings from 2024 to 2026. In budget 2025, almost €15 billion was made available from the Exchequer for investment in public capital projects, along with €3 billion of funds from the sale of the State’s shareholding in AIB. This level of expenditure is pivotal to consolidate the progress already made, to support balanced regional development, to address key infrastructural bottlenecks more rapidly, and to lead to further improvements in living standards and competitiveness. In addition, the recently agreed programme for Government sets out that the Government will prioritise an early review of the national development plan, which will be completed in July 2025. The review of the NDP will encompass all public capital investment, as I have mentioned, and will utilise State funds to support increased capital investment levels. The northern and western region has already seen significant delivery of infrastructure under the NDP in the context of housing and many other projects. I can list a number of regional transport projects that are important for the west. I could also refer to the national broadband plan and other important priorities. The Deputy has seen the NDP and some of the projects listed in it. We are reviewing the plan and updating it in the context of the additional capital that is available and that will, as we have stated, be allocated in strategic areas. That will be completed by the summer.
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I reject the Deputy's assertions in respect of that matter. What she outlined relates to CSO and Central Bank data that was already in the public domain and that was debated in the Dáil on the day it was published by her colleague Deputy Doherty and the then Minister for housing, Deputy O'Brien. There were lots of projections across the public domain, and the Government obviously said it was disappointed with the final outturn relating to housing completions. That is why, in the context of the NDP review, we have set out that housing will be a central priority. We are particularly focusing on transport, energy, water and housing to unlock further supply in our economy. These are central to what we have set. As stated, the information the Deputy referenced was not new. It related to CSO and Central Bank data which was published in the weeks prior to that, and that is the context.
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The Minister for housing responded to that on the day the CSO figures were published. There were lots of-----
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-----different projections which set out higher levels of completions and which were in the public domain. As has been previously said, the Government is disappointed with the final outturn of 2024.
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That is why central to the review of the national development plan will be housing supply and infrastructure delivery.
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We have a lot of constraints and barriers when it comes to housing supply which we need to unblock and which are undermining our ability to deliver the overall level of supply required to help people in the communities we all represent.
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Similarly, investment in transport infrastructure unlocks housing development.
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We know about the deficit in water infrastructure. Supporting the capital plan Irish Water has will be fundamental to unlocking the overall housing supply we require. In addition, there are the many other capital projects the Deputy referenced around refuges and other areas of priority. That is why we are reviewing the NDP. We are also looking at the delivery systems that underpin capital investment. These need to be strengthened and streamlined in order that we can accelerate delivery from concept to completion.
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As he is aware, in the recently agreed programme for Government, we agreed to update the ethics in public office legislation. This is on foot of a wide-ranging review of the legislative framework for ethics in public life that my Department undertook during the lifetime of the previous Government. The report relating to that review was published in February 2023. The report's recommendations include that the legislative framework for ethics should be underpinned by a set of overarching integrity principles, that disclosure requirements should be strengthened to improve transparency and that consideration should be given to whether the regime should encompass more office-holders. The report also recommends a strengthening of the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO. I am conscious of recent further recommendations in relation to ethics that will also need to be considered in the context of this reform. This is an area that is complex and that requires careful consideration. I intend to look in detail at the outstanding policy issues, including those I have outlined, and to try to find an appropriate way forward to fulfil the programme for Government commitment. My ultimate goal is to create a fit-for-purpose, easy-to-understand and user-friendly ethical framework that contributes to the quality, efficacy and transparency of our system and builds on the strengths of our existing framework.
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In the context of the engagement with the Government Chief Whip and the Attorney General on the legislative programme, that is obviously legislation my Department has responsibility for. We have said we are going to engage in a review. Deputy Howlin was an excellent Member of this House. He did an excellent job in the role I am in. He brought forward the Bill in question, which has not made its way through this House. That is why we are undertaking a review of the statutory framework which the former Minister, Deputy McGrath, advanced. What we are doing is trying to draft that legislative framework in the context of the legislative programme. We will then fulfil the programme for Government commitment. When I have further information about what is possible in terms of a timeline, I will provide it to the House. The review is ongoing. We will prioritise the drafting of a Bill when we have agreed a legislative framework around it. I want to fulfil the programme for Government commitment and advance the legislation.
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I did not.
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I thank the Deputy. Through this legislative reform, we want to have an effective updated standards framework. Such a framework is integral to the quality and efficacy of public governance in our State. It needs to be future-proofed in that context. The regulation of conflicts of interest is obviously central to building trust in public institutions and in the objectivity of public service decision-making. We have the review that was carried out, the previous legislative proposal and other reports. These will all inform the broader evidence-based context for how we try to draft this proposal. My focus is to fulfil the programme for Government commitment. When we manage to formalise a particular draft or heads, we will engage through the Oireachtas process in terms of pre-legislative scrutiny. We will engage with parties across the House in making sure that it is a fit-for-purpose public governance framework that updates the ethics legislation appropriately and in line with best practice.
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The single public service pension scheme is a statutory public service career-average defined benefit pension scheme, established on 1 January 2013 under the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012. The single scheme was established to place publicly funded retirement benefits on a more sustainable footing in the context of longer life expectancies. All new entrants to the public service hired after 1 January 2013 are members of this single scheme. Members of the Permanent Defence Force, firefighters, members of An Garda Síochána and prison officers are categorised as members of the uniformed accrual cohort of single scheme members. The uniformed grades have certain enhanced benefits that other members of the single scheme do not have in recognition of their earlier retirement age, such as early payment of scheme benefits. This enables them to accrue more single scheme benefits over expected shorter public service careers in these roles. Once members of the uniformed accrual cohort reach their normal retirement age as provided for in section 26 of the 2012 Act, they can retire at that age and receive their occupational retirement benefits accrued at a higher rate, including their retirement lump-sum and pension benefit payments. These benefit payments are separate from, and in addition to, any future entitlement that they may have to the State contributory pension, which is administered by the Department of Social Protection. While members of the Defence Forces and other uniformed accrual members have mandatory retirement ages lower than the State pension contributory retirement age, they are still able to work in other employment in the intervening period while fully accessing their single-scheme pension benefits, subject to abatement, where applicable, if in the public service. In 2024, in recognition of changing demographics and a desire for each member of the fast-accrual category to continue working for longer, the Government enacted Part 11 of the Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) 2024. This allowed work to be done by officials in my Department and those in other Departments. The legislation allows for an increase in the mandatory retirement age for uniformed staff to 62 years for those who choose to avail of it and applies to single scheme and pre-existing public service pension schemes. I will get back to the Deputy on the rest of it.
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I will finish by giving some further context. We brought forward the increased mandatory retirement age for those who choose to avail of it. The legislative change also allows uniformed members of the single scheme to continue accruing referrable amounts towards their occupational pensions for the additional years now worked. These members will continue accruing pension benefits on a fast-accrual basis up to the age of 60. Another issue that is occasionally raised by the single scheme uniformed members is access to a supplementary pension, which exists in pre-existing public service pension schemes. However, supplementary pensions have never been a feature of the single scheme, nor is it envisaged that they will be. The wider context, which the Deputy can appreciate, is to try to have some sustainability in the overall pension system, which has been well flagged by many external and independent experts. We all engage with many uniformed service members of the State who do an incredible job on the front line. However, we are trying to get the balance in the context of what represents a longer term risk. We see the actuarial analysis around that in terms of the total pension liability the State has.
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I appreciate the feedback the Deputy has received. I regularly engage with all the uniformed members myself. I again acknowledge the work they do. The context of the 2013 scheme when it was introduced meant that it was the largest reform of public service occupational pension schemes in the history of the State. That was to try to put them on a sustainable footing by acknowledging the demographic changes taking place and the actuarial analysis and liability that those changes reflect. That is the context in which this has been managed. The previous Government made decisions relating to the State pension age, as it was important to give certainty to many members of the public. There was a huge campaign in 2020, which we responded to. That was the right decision. All of these decisions have a broader context that we have to acknowledge. The decision against increasing the State pension age was the right one in that instance. We want to make sure that the overall State pension system is sustainable and manageable in the context of the other priorities we have.
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Securing value for money is a central priority for this Government and is at the heart of all decision-making at every stage of a policy, project or programme's life cycle, and it should be. Delivering value for money is about securing the efficient and effective use of public resources in the pursuit of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland. Achieving value for money is the responsibility of each Minister and Department spending public funds. The Accounting Officers of those Departments and offices are accountable to the Comptroller and Auditor General and their respective Oireachtas committees for that spending. Accounting Officers must ensure that capital projects for which they have statutory responsibility are managed and delivered effectively. The Accounting Officers must decide whether the processes in place in their Departments, offices or bodies are appropriate to ensure compliance with the infrastructure guidelines; the management of capital budgets overall; and the management of budgets at an individual project level. In terms of its capital allocation, my Department has not had significant direct overruns. We have a responsibility for overall oversight and we are responsible for the infrastructure guidelines that replaced the public spending code and were published in December 2023, with an effective date of 1 January 2024. These set out value for money guidance for evaluating, planning and managing Exchequer-funded capital projects. The management and delivery of these must be done in the context of the allocation and the national frameworks, which is a key responsibility of each Department and Minister. As part of the capital appraisal process for projects under the infrastructure guidelines, projects' sponsoring agents are asked to critically consider the schedule and cost implications of those projects, which is further developed as a project progresses through the approval gates and more information becomes available, for example, when a project moves from the preliminary phase to final business case before the awarding of a contract. This includes detailed financial and economic appraisal, sensitivity analysis, accounting for behavioural influences such as optimism bias as well as consideration of appropriate levels of contingency. I will elaborate more on the governance framework.
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I reject the Deputy's assertion that it is not a consideration; it categorically is. That is why we have put in place many of the governance frameworks around the major projects' advisory group. This has significant external evaluation and assurance processes and addresses the need for value for money in all elements of the infrastructure guidelines, which are published. That is set out across a number of the frameworks that are submitted to Departments. The Deputy referenced Farmleigh. A large number of visitors attend Farmleigh, which the Deputy will be aware of. Many of them are from his constituency. I was there at the weekend when local artists availed of one of the facilities to showcase their local art. It is used for many cultural and other activities, which the Deputy recognised. A large number of visitors use it. I acknowledge that there is public concern about value for money on certain projects. I do not reject that as an issue. I will bring forward a memorandum to the Government in the coming weeks on value for money and it being a central consideration across the Government's frameworks. It is something I want to continue to assess in the context of the overall budgetary envelope we have.
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That is very inflammatory language, to be frank.
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You have to balance that against the public service that is trying to deliver on broader policy objectives, such as decarbonising public transport-----
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-----which is an important public good. You have to balance that against many public servants working in our transport system who want to ensure we advance a major capital project. There are issues with the systems around timelines, sequencing and the delays that happen in public projects, especially those relating to the planning system and the decision-making that happens in that regard. There is general frustration with that. In the infrastructure division we are establishing, we are providing much greater oversight so that we drive the acceleration and delivery of projects that have been outlined in plans for many years. People want to see the outworking and the completion of those projects. I want to address the value for money concerns that are in the public domain. However, the Deputy's narrative does not give any balance in respect of delivery and things that are happening in the context of the envelope we have given to capital expenditure. It is fair that we should give more balance regarding the public servants who are trying to deliver value for money-----
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-----and trying to deliver on our broader social and public objectives when it comes to many areas of capital expenditure.
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