Pádraic McCormack
Question:65 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Finance if the new system of presenting capital programmes is improving his capacity to track overruns. [14585/03]
Vol. 567 No. 6
65 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Finance if the new system of presenting capital programmes is improving his capacity to track overruns. [14585/03]
68 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance the steps which are taken to ensure that major capital projects do not cost appreciably more than the estimated or contract figures. [14709/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 68 together.
In accordance with the principles underlying the strategic management initiative, my Department has been pursuing a strategy of maximum delegation of spending authority to line Departments in recent years. In relation to large capital programmes, therefore, spending authority for individual projects is generally delegated to the relevant spending Department.
The role of my Department is to set out a clear framework in relation to the management of capital investment. In this regard, my Department has published guidelines for the appraisal and management of capital expenditure proposals in the public sector. The guidelines outline the steps to be followed in appraising capital expenditure proposals and managing capital projects across the public sector.
The aim of the guidelines is to promote the most effective allocation and use of scarce resources across the public sector; improve the quality of information about capital expenditure proposals available to decision makers; ensure that public services provided are appropriate responses to public needs and are efficiently supplied; and encourage a systematic and consistent approach to the appraisal and management of public sector capital expenditure measures. The type and depth of appraisal depends on the size and nature of the project proposed.
While the Department's guidelines set out overall principles, these are supplemented in many cases by spending Departments and agencies by more detailed instructions where large scale or complex projects are proposed. The detailed procedures adopted by Departments, therefore, may vary from the guidelines in line with the particular needs of the organisation concerned.