1. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to give an update on the projected overspends of Government Departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27579/26]
Sentiment score: 0.01
As the Aire would be aware, there was an overspend in the Department of education. I wonder if he can give us an update on that. As he will know, the Department of education has projected a €600 million overspend that will be paid for by cuts to the Department of education and other departmental budgets. To be honest, it is further evidence that the Government cannot be trusted with public finances. I ask the Minister to give us an update.
Sentiment score: -0.02
My question is where exactly the cuts will be. The reality is that these cuts are the direct result of the Government's decisions. Anybody who read the budget book at the last budget will know that the sums do not add up. We know that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have underbudgeted and overspent for years and this Government is the exact same. Budget after budget, the Government failed to allocate the necessary funding for essential public services and relied upon Supplementary Estimates to cover its back. This overspend is not exceptional; these things seem to happen every year under the Minister's watch. Yet, the Minister has decided to scrap the practice of using Supplementary Estimates to cover overspends. To be honest, I think that is quite shortsighted. It also shows the poor budgeting that we have seen. I have never seen anything like the last budget, to be perfectly honest. The public deserves to know exactly where those cuts are going to come into effect.
Sentiment score: -0.04
The issue here is the question in relation to the €600 million. That is just a simple question; I do not think it is any more difficult than that. It is in relation to that €600 million. I have to be honest; I have never seen a budget like I saw this year. The sums do not add up. Anybody who can take out a calculator and take a look at the budget book will see that. If the Minister wants to publish something where the figures do not add up, that is fair enough but it causes huge confusion. I do not really know exactly what is happening in regard to budgets in this Government but, obviously, there are issues there. Perhaps it is something the Government could look at for next year but the question on the €600 million remains.
Sentiment score: 0.01
3. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on the impact of current global fuel price increases on the delivery of infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27580/26]
Sentiment score: 0.01
The Minister and Deputy Sheehan were just talking about the approval of the ring road. In Galway we have been waiting decades for the approval of the Galway ring road. We also have a chronic infrastructural deficit across Galway city and county. People in Galway have been waiting decades for the approval of the ring road. This is the kind of infrastructure that has been desperately needed to reduce congestion within the city, particularly for those who may be travelling to hospital appointments from Connemara. That is always the way I see it. Similarly, the Galway harbour development has just been approved after 12 years of planning delays. We want to see this happen but there is a real fear now of the impact of global fuel prices delaying these projects further. Can the Minister reassure the people of Galway that the current increase in fuel prices will not slow down the delivery of infrastructure projects across Galway city and county?
Sentiment score: 0.11
It really has been decades that we have been waiting. I do not remember a time when we were not talking about the Galway ring road. It is also about people being able to access services through a gridlocked city, which is incredibly difficult. I was talking to one mother who said that to get to a 9 a.m. appointment in Merlin Park hospital from Connemara, really she would have to stay the night before but the prices are expensive, so she was leaving the house at 6 a.m. That is the reality of it. The Minister mentioned public infrastructure and public transport as well. We have had some delays on that as a result of waiting on the decision on this. It should have always been done in tandem, from the 1990s onwards. It was always a matter of waiting for that decision to be made. Do the Government's cost estimates for infrastructure projects such as the Galway ring road provide leeway for the type of cost increases that are currently happening?
Sentiment score: -0.01
5. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide clarity on what can be designated as critical infrastructure within the Critical Infrastructure Bill 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27581/26]
Sentiment score: -0.07
The Critical Infrastructure Bill is currently going through the Oireachtas, but it does not provide a full definition of critical infrastructure and seems to leave it up to the Minister of the day as to what is and what is not critical infrastructure. I ask the Minister to provide some clarity on what he means by critical infrastructure.
Sentiment score: -0.34
I understand that the Minister is giving me the layout of the Bill and exactly how it will work. My interest is in what he would deem to be critical infrastructure. Obviously, we have serious issues when it comes to the delivery of critical infrastructure. I think of the likes of homes and houses, hospitals, public transport and infrastructure of scale. At the moment, what is being built an awful lot of the time is private student accommodation which is then rented at extraordinarily high prices. We see empty office buildings and that type of construction happening. I understand that the Minister is saying it is through the public system and not private, but it would be interesting to hear what he considers and deems to be critical infrastructure.
Sentiment score: 0.01
My party colleagues and I want to work constructively with the Minister on this Bill. We understand that our people and our communities need critical infrastructure to be delivered with urgency. We want to engage with this legislation and scrutinise it in order that it is fit for purpose because, as the Minister says, the critical infrastructure that is built by this Government will be in use for decades. Therefore, it is essential that this Government gets critical infrastructure delivery right. It has been incredibly disappointing that this Government has so far tried to evade scrutiny and limit the opportunity for TDs, relevant experts and stakeholders to look at and improve this Bill. Conversation is always better when we are looking at legislation. Will the Minister make a commitment that this Bill will get a full hearing on Committee Stage? That would be incredibly important. I do not sit on that committee. I understand Deputy Sheehan does. I have party colleagues who do. Giving it that time would be incredibly important.
Sentiment score: 0.22