Denis Naughten
Question:51 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Finance his views on the proposal of an evaluation unit within his Department for independently evaluating capital projects as proposed by the ESRI. [8666/04]
View answerTuesday, 23 March 2004
Questions (62)
Written answers
The key responsibility for the evaluation, planning and execution of capital projects rests with line Departments and the relevant implementing agencies. My Department has a strong concern to promote the pursuit of optimal value for money by Departments and has provided guidance to Departments in this regard. This guidance is set out in the 1994 capital appraisal guidelines. These guidelines are designed to enhance the quality of project management and appraisal, including the conduct of more rigorous cost benefit analysis and to promote better value for money generally. Work is advancing in my Department on drafting revised guidelines in the light of experience of the operation of the existing guidelines and of the implementation of infrastructure projects in recent years.
As regards the specific proposal to establish an evaluation unit in my Department, I advise the Deputy that the NDP-CSF evaluation unit is an independent evaluation unit under the aegis of my Department which is co-financed by the Exchequer and the EU and has responsibility under the direction of the technical assistance monitoring committee for evaluation of the NDP operational programmes and related issues. In this regard it has engaged in or overseen a number of evaluations since the commencement of the NDP, including the evaluation of investment in key capital programmes such as the road network and public transport. The NDP-CSF evaluation unit has also been engaging with my Department with regard to the ongoing work on the revision of the capital appraisal guidelines.
My Department co-ordinates the expenditure review initiative under which Departments conduct internal evaluations or reviews of their key expenditure programmes or policy areas on the basis of centrally agreed criteria. Final responsibility for conducting reviews, submitting them for external quality assessment, disseminating their findings and implementing their recommendations rests with each Department.
My Department also provides the secretariat to the expenditure review central steering committee, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and comprising a number of Secretaries General and an external expert. The ERCSC supports the expenditure review process at a strategic level. This includes making recommendations on future reforms to the process.
More generally the issue of the evaluative capacity of my Department will be kept under review in the context of arrangements being put in place to implement the five year rolling capital envelopes framework, the ongoing work programme of the NDP-CSF evaluation unit and the review of the capital appraisal guidelines.