National Development Plan.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2005

Tuesday, 1 February 2005

Questions (24, 25)

Olivia Mitchell

Question:

23 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether a review of the performance of the NDP would now be timely. [2543/05]

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

82 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the serious concern recently expressed by the institute of engineers regarding delays in meeting the targets set in the national development plan and its view that unless significant additional funding is provided, it will not be completed until 2013; if he will provide any such additional funding; the role his Department plays in co-ordinating the work of other Departments in regard to the implementation of the plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2487/05]

Written answers

Minister for Finance (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 82 together.

The national development plan, NDP, was subjected to a wide-ranging, in-depth and independent mid-term evaluation by the ESRI in 2003. The evaluation found that the NDP has made significant progress towards its objectives of promoting continuing sustainable national economic and employment growth and of consolidating and improving Ireland's economic competitiveness. It stated that the NDP "will have a sustainable positive effect on competitiveness and the productive capacity of the economy in the long-term". In terms of national prosperity, the ESRI has estimated that NDP expenditure over the period under review raised the level of GNP by over 7% above what it would have been had the NDP not been undertaken and, in the long run, the level of GNP will be around 3% higher. The ESRI estimated that this represents a real rate of return on NDP investment of around 14% and must be seen as an exceptional economic performance by any standards. More generally the mid-term evaluation endorsed the strategy underpinning the NDP and its continuing relevance. It is not therefore necessary to conduct a further review of the NDP at this juncture.

The Institution of Engineers of Ireland publication focuses on progress under the economic and social infrastructure programme, ESIOP, of the NDP. It was acknowledged some time ago that the NDP output targets under some headings would not be achieved and that the cost of the infrastructure programme would be ahead of initial targets. This is due to a variety of factors, including initial cost underestimation, re-specification of projects and inflation. Nonetheless, it is estimated that by the end of 2004, €19 billion of total planned ESIOP investment of €26 billion was spent. Of this, the Exchequer has provided €16 billion as compared with initial projections of €13 billion. There has been an ongoing roll-out of infrastructure projects of unprecedented scale and size and significant progress is being made.

The Government is committed to substantial continuing investment in infrastructure over the medium term beyond the completion date of the current NDP. The multi-annual capital envelopes for 2005-09 provide for overall capital investment of €36.3 billion; as a percentage of GNP this is a level around twice the European average. This level of investment will ensure that by the end 2006 investment under the ESIOP will be greater than the initial target and will fund a major enhancement of Ireland's economic and social infrastructure up to and beyond the current NDP.

As regards infrastructure implementation, individual Departments and agencies are responsible, in the first instance, for the effective implementation of plan programmes for which they have responsibility. My Department chairs the NDP-CSF monitoring committee which meets at least twice yearly. This committee, which monitors overall progress on the plan, is comprised of a wide partnership of interests, including implementing Departments, the social partners, sectoral interests, and members of local authorities representing the regional assemblies.

Each of the seven operational programmes under the plan has a similar widely based monitoring committee which meets twice yearly to monitor the ongoing implementation of the programme. The managing authorities and the Department-agencies responsible for implementing specific aspects of the operational programmes have additional procedures in place to monitor and manage the ongoing implementation of the operational programmes.

The Department of Finance is assisted by a number of dedicated units established to meet the requirements of the Structural Funds regulations. These units focus on financial control of the Structural Funds, ongoing evaluations of key elements of the NDP and providing information on projects and programmes.

In addition to this monitoring framework, key Departments report through their Ministers to the Cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure, housing and PPPs on implementation and delivery of infrastructure programmes under the NDP.