Vol. 1074 No. 6
1. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the reforms he plans to introduce to improve the delivery of infrastructure and capital development outlined in the revised national development plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60445/25]
We have been reading a lot of significant information in the media in recent days and weeks about plans the Minister appears to have to improve the delivery of infrastructure and capital development in the context of the revised national development plan, NDP. Will he elaborate precisely on what those plans are and how he plans to implement them?
My Department is currently finalising the completion of a report and action plan on accelerating infrastructure delivery in our economy. It will be brought to Government in the coming weeks. It will set out a series of high-impact reforms targeted at the most significant barriers to the timely delivery of critical infrastructure. These reforms will have a clear focus on reducing timelines and significantly improving outcomes. They will be targeted at the most impactful barriers to infrastructure delivery as outlined in the report published in July. This report identified 12 barriers to the effective delivery of infrastructure in our country.
The most significant barriers identified are broadly categorised across three headings, which were set out in the report. The first is the regulatory environment, including the growth and complexity of legislation; policy statements and strategies; how consents, licences and permissions for development are obtained; the timelines for these processes, engagement between the regulatory bodies and project developers; and consistency across regulatory bodies.
The second heading is the planning and legal systems, including the increasing role that the courts play in infrastructure projects; the cascading consequences from these decisions through development cycles; and the impact that the uncertainty in planning and legal decisions are having on projects.
The third heading is internal systems, such as how the Government allocates funding and develops a credible project pipeline; the rules applied to the development of projects; and how contractors are procured to undertake the works necessary for a project.
The task force is providing strategic guidance and practical insights into the development of actions to address these barriers. This work is also informed by extensive engagement in the economy with delivery bodies, regulators, and industry representatives, as well as international best practice.
Some reforms had already been introduced when we published the NDP. We have given funding certainty of €102 billion from 2026 to 2030, which is €34 billion over the previous allocation. It provides greater certainty for key strategic projects such as MetroLink, the greater Dublin drainage scheme and the eastern and midlands water supply project, as well as the prioritisation of funding for critical infrastructure, such as electricity, water, and transport to help the supply of new homes and economic competitiveness.
Thank you, Minister.
Departments are in the process of developing sectoral investment plans to allocate their capital resources and these will be published in the coming weeks.
This is all well and good and we have been reading a lot about this since the revised national development plan was published. We will see updates on specific projects shortly. Will there be timelines for those projects? Looking beyond the abstract, what will it mean for people? For example, will the package of proposals that the Minister wants implemented shorten the timeframe for the delivery of the MetroLink or the northern line DART project to Drogheda? How many new homes will it deliver? At the moment this is all in the abstract about task forces and so on reporting but there is very little detail.
The Minister briefed the media earlier this week that the threshold in the Department's infrastructure guidelines will increase from €200 million to €500 million.
I am not absolutely convinced that will improve project delivery. In fact, I would advise caution in that regard. The Minister should be streamlining the process for using the infrastructure guidelines, not necessarily increasing the threshold.
There are extensive actions across every barrier and the plan is to have the majority of the practical actions being delivered in 2026. Every action we take is about shortening and truncating timelines for the development lifecycle of critical infrastructure, which is simply taking too long. That means we need to increase our risk appetite. We have too much process and too many decision-makers and there is risk aversion across our systems. Secondly, within government, where we can control processes or procedures, that means we cut unnecessary levels of process which do not add value but simply add time. We have had a forensic assessment of this in recent months. The response to it around the infrastructure report which we publish involves practical actions which will demonstrate shortening of timelines for critical infrastructure and other infrastructure across our economy.
On the point about housing, water and wastewater treatment plants are central to the delivery of new homes and many of Irish Water's capital projects are taking far too long. We have secondments from Irish Water and the task force in my Department. They make a positive contribution to the whole area of reform.
Would the Government take any responsibility for what the Minister described as the unnecessary processes that have developed over time? We hear a lot of analysis of this and finally the Government appears to be cottoning on to the fact we have a real problem with delivery. We have been saying it in opposition for years - I try to be constructive and put forward alternative proposals for delivery of infrastructure - but it is only when someone like John Collison writes an article for a national newspaper that senior Government representatives seem to take notice. I understand from the media that Fianna Fáil backbenchers have been saying this for a long time as well. There is a form of fetishisation of bureaucracy in this country. We seem to love it and get caught up in it, but it may have gone too far. In some respects, however, that is a scapegoating exercise. Our problem these days is not money. It was always money but now it is delivery and this Government will be judged on delivery. The IMF said clearly that our infrastructure lags 32% behind comparable countries. It is a rich country that feels very poor.
That is why we have corrected that around having over 5% GNI* allocated for critical infrastructure, which is one of the highest levels of infrastructure investment across EU counterparts. It did not take any article in any newspaper for me to prioritise infrastructure delivery. Since the brief was allocated to my Department, we have stood up a task force, developed an evidence base and published the report in July on the evidence base, which is now informing the various reforms which we will introduce and set out in the coming weeks. That is about cutting unnecessary processes within government and the State. We have a complicated structure of regulation in our economy which needs simplification, and not only at EU level. We need to prioritise domestic simplification and reform to do things quicker, to develop and facilitate economic growth and, ultimately, to deliver infrastructure quicker and build more homes. That is the central metric which will underpin all the work on infrastructure. We will set out the detail around that when it is published in the coming weeks.
2. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will publish updated spending reviews for each Government Department; the reason for not publishing in advance of budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60444/25]
I ask the Minister about the spending reviews carried out this year that were not published, as had been the practice in previous years. Why were no spending reviews published in the run-up to the budget? How many spending reviews were carried out this year that were not published? Why has the practice of publishing these reviews been abandoned? Does the Minister agree the public has a right to know what is in these reviews? Will he publish all spending reviews that have been caried out? When will he publish them?
I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. Securing value for money is an ongoing priority for the Government. It is at the heart of all decision-making at every stage of policy or programme lifecycles. It is about securing the efficient and effective use of public resources and improving living standards and infrastructure for the people of our country. Policy analysis is a core component of public expenditure management and value for money frameworks.
A wide range of policy and expenditure analysis is undertaken and published by Departments annually. These can take the form of staff papers, focused policy assessments, spending reviews and analytical notes, among others. My Department plays a central role in this process by regularly analysing expenditure trends and policies. Alongside this, individual Departments have responsibility for evaluating the efficiency and impact of their own programmes and policies. Since 2024, approximately 59 papers have been published by Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, IGEES, staff across government. During 2025, it produced policy analysis and expenditure evaluations on a broad range of topics, including disability services, social housing, migration and labour market trends, statutory sick leave, well-being, education, transport and youth participation. This analytical research has continued to play a key role in supporting evidence-based policymaking.
In addition, my Department continues to ensure evidence and analysis is at the centre of policymaking within the budgetary process. This is communicated through a range of publications including the annual expenditure report and the public service performance report, as well as our expenditure and policy evaluation papers across a range of topics.
In preparation for budget 2026, my Department undertook several pieces of analysis to support resource allocation. The public service performance report was published in June and it detailed how Departments performed against targets set in the Revised Estimates process. We published the national development plan review in July. We spoke about that previously. Importantly, we published the medium-term expenditure framework in September. This is a multiyear public expenditure planning exercise which supports assessment of the resource implications of future policy decisions over the period from 2025 to 2030.
Go raibh maith agat, a Aire, but let us focus on spending reviews and 2025, and not all the other things that have happened. The Government has a track record of wasting public money. We need look no further than the bike shed for an example of that. In previous years, spending reviews were published in the run-up to the budget. That did not happen this year. Why not? Why is the Minister suppressing these reports?
At the budgetary oversight committee, we were told by the Parliamentary Budget Office that about 50 spending reviews were carried out this year and that these were not published. Some 250 IGEES personnel worked on these spending reviews in every Department. It is a significant amount of work but we have not seen what is in these reviews. The public has a right to know what is in them. When will the Minister publish them? Is there something in these spending reviews the Minister does not want us to see? If not, will he commit now to publishing all spending reviews that have been carried out in 2025?
I reject that analysis. Much work across government and in the public service is delivering a significant number of projects on time and on budget. Flippant remarks about particular projects undermine the core work of many people who work across our system. It is important to balance the Deputy's remarks in that context. Since 2024, approximately 59 publications have been authored. In 2025, we have had the Intergenerational Dependence on Social Housing working paper from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the Review of Social Housing Delivery and Spend from my Department in January; the Supply and Demand of General Practice in Ireland report, which was published by the Department of Health; the Analytical Paper on the School Meals Programme, which was published in July; the Spending Review: Disability Residential Services report; and the Focused Policy Assessment: HSE Adult Disability Day Services report. I have a long list here which I can send to the Deputy of many papers published by IGEES, which is co-ordinated by my Department, as part of its work across government around spending reviews, value for money and providing policy analysis. There have been extensive publications. I could list many publications from this year, such as the well-being framework. They complement the medium-term expenditure framework, which was an extensive piece of work by the central expenditure division.
How many spending reviews were carried out in 2025 that have not been published? That is the nub of my question. That is what I want to know. We have been told at the budgetary oversight committee that in the region of 50 spending reviews across Departments - a very significant body of work - have not been published.
Can the Minister tell us how many spending reviews have been carried out this year, how many remain unpublished and when will he publish these spending reviews? They can provide an invaluable insight and analysis. There can be huge learnings from them. It is important information is shared with the public and that it is not suppressed. How many spending reviews have been carried out this year that the Minister has not published and when will he publish them?
I started listing a number of them that have been published. As I said, there have been 59 papers published since 2024. I am happy to send to the Deputy a list of the ones we have published.
Indeed, what has informed most of the work in the Department was the medium term expenditure framework, which did an expenditure analysis of the overall expenditure trends across Government. I am not sure if the Deputy has read it. It looked at the-----
I am asking the Minister about the spending reviews he has not published.
It has been the most extensive detailed piece of work across many of the economists in the Department, looking at the expenditure trends for the past five years and at how we make the policy choices and trade-offs over the next five years, acknowledging some of what was referenced in the Department of Finance report yesterday in terms of changing demographics, the impact of climate change and-----
Will the Minister publish the spending reviews that he has not published?
There are ongoing publications. Indeed, I regularly publish their respective reports. I am not sure who is giving the Deputy that analysis on reports not being published because-----
The Parliamentary Budget Office.
-----many of the IGEES reports are published.
I am not sure if the Deputy read the medium term expenditure framework. It is a comprehensive, cross-cutting cross-government report as a five-year backward-looking analysis on expenditure trends to inform expenditure for the next five years. It informs a lot of the work that we undertook as part of budget 2026 and will inform the medium-term structural and fiscal plan with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe.
3. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation when he expects the mission critical communications system to be fully operational; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60174/25]
My question today is about how we can strengthen our national resilience against future storms in the wake of Storm Éowyn and how new technologies can be used to better protect our communities. I want to ask the Minister of State when she expects the mission critical communications system to be fully operation and will she make a statement on the matter.
I thank the Deputy for this question. I am pleased to advise that officials are actively discussing the launch of the Irish component of the EU critical communications system with the European Commission with a view to Ireland becoming an early adopter of this.
I hope the Deputy will be pleased to know that six weeks ago Government launched a new mission critical communications system that was built by Vodafone in partnership with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. It has been set up to be able to help emergency services, such as An Garda Síochána, the Fire Service, the National Ambulance Service, the Coast Guard, Civil Defence, to be able to communicate and co-ordinate effectively through more resilient challenges.
The Deputy mentioned Storm Éowyn. I suppose that identified communities, in particular, rural communities, and especially the island communities, which were vulnerable in a situation where our already resilient systems unfortunately were unable to perform because of power failure.
The mission critical communications system, which was under the EU resilience fund, was built as a system of systems to be able to make sure that our lines are fully resilient. We tested it in September. That happened in Westport. Both I and the Minister, Deputy Chambers, were delighted to be able to join emergency services' colleagues not only from Ireland but from across the EU, who together ran a live testing. It was a maritime scenario where they looked at a Coast Guard vessel that was five miles offshore and they were able to make sure they were able to receive real-time video streaming from an aircraft. This was done using satellite technology. It was done using satellite-enabled links that are designed to provide communication connectivity even if terrestrial networks fail.
It was successfully trialled. It is part of the broader European critical communications system. I can give the Deputy more information in my next contribution.
I thank the Minister of State. It is good to hear that it has been trialled and it is getting up and running. This system will build greater resilience in our emergency communications. As the Minister of State said, it is kind of a system of systems so it gives us a last resort in terms of response.
I referred to Storm Éowyn. We all know that storms are getting worse. All the weather records show that. Storm Éowyn is out on its own in terms of the impact on the west of Ireland and I suppose we are all so cognisant of the importance of communications during serious storms like that. Elderly and vulnerable members of the community were left without power but even longer without communications. We will be looking at that issue in the climate committee soon.
In terms of rolling out to community first responders, are they on the list? As the Minister of State will probably be aware, the National Ambulance Service co-ordinates a network of community first responders who are volunteers, who can do CPR, who can do defib and provide other services. It strikes me that they could be a good group to benefit from this in an emergency or a storm situation.
I thank the Deputy for that feedback. I will double-check but it is my understanding that they would well be able to use it. I met with members of the Civil Defence based in Mayo who were already part of that active trial and it is great to see that the community initiatives are also built into it.
For the Deputy's information, the European Commission is proposing to bring in legislation next year that will formulate that entire system. It is likely that will happen during the Irish EU Presidency. That will give us a great opportunity to influence this. Ireland will then co-ordinate with the European Commission to agree a date to have its sub-system in place. Components of the Irish system have already been deployed in recent years as part of the recovery and resilience facility project 2.5 and the remaining components will be installed to meet whatever timeline is ultimately agreed with the European Commission. As I said, that is likely to happen on our watch, during the EU Presidency.
It is positive that we can have an influence on that while we hold the Presidency of the Council. It is good to hear about Westport. Storm Éowyn was a west of Ireland problem in the main and testing the system off the west coast in Westport was a positive development. It would be great to keep the plan moving. We will no doubt hear more about it in due course in the context of the EU Presidency underpinning further work. I thank the Minister of State.
Absolutely. It was fantastic to meet public health nurses from the HSE who advised that they had clients in rural island communities who were badly impacted by people's inability to communicate directly with emergency services or the ability of emergency services to co-ordinate. That is what this initiative will help to resolve.
Any systems deployed for the emergency services have strict requirements for both bandwidth and latency. That is to ensure the highest level of service is always achieved. From the time a radio call button is pressed by a garda anywhere in the country to when it is complete, it is less than 300 milliseconds. That is kind of critical component of infrastructure we are talking about.
To test the full capabilities of the 5G standards, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer built a private 5G network core that implements the most recent standards for which the public protection and disaster relief, PPDR, services are deployed and tested. Those standards became known as mission critical communications. They will provide an equivalent feature set to that seen on the Trans-European Trunked Radio, TETRA, networks, for example, push-and-talk functionality in emergency situations.
