Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2012
107 Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on the pre-budget 2012 statement of the United Left Alliance advocating a emergency programme of necessary public works as response to mass unemployment. [4109/12]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Government recently laid out our five year capital investment programme in Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-2016. This publication which was the result of a major review of capital expenditure, prioritises investment in that infrastructure which will be most beneficial to supporting economic growth, thereby supporting sustainable employment growth in the medium term, meets urgent social needs and maintains our existing stock of infrastructure.
The programme protects supports to the enterprise sector primarily through agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. The unprecedented level of investment over the past few years and in 2012 delivered through the Enterprise Development Agencies can foster sustainable and valuable employment in the exporting sectors of the economy which will be critical to recovery. While the overall capital envelope for 2012 has been reduced, we have actually held the level of capital allocation for the enterprise sector relative to the preceding period.
The State will be spending some €17 billion over the next five years on capital projects throughout the country and this will help support employment in many key areas. Much of this investment will be in smaller scale locally based projects, such as local and regional road maintenance and improvement, or school building and repair. It is important to note that less expensive re-fit, refurbishment, and up-grade works can be more labour-intensive than larger capital-intensive projects that have been deferred.
