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Capital Programme Expenditure

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 December 2012

Thursday, 20 December 2012

Questions (129)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

129. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the consideration that will be paid to employment when the capital budget for 2013 is profiled by month; if he will consider measures to accelerate capital spending when appropriate in order to promote and prioritise employment. [57394/12]

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Written answers

The monthly profiling of capital expenditure is carried out by individual Departments on the basis of the likely timing of payments related to capital projects and programmes which they deliver within their annual capital allocation. Job creation is not a factor of the profiling exercise. Queries in relation to the profiling of capital allocations are a matter for individual Ministers and their Departments.

While my Department is not responsible for the profiling of capital expenditure it does set the overall expenditure allocations of Departments which includes setting the five year multi-annual capital envelopes. Following a Government-wide review of the public capital programme, the five year envelope out to 2016 was set in November last year; this was slightly adjusted in Budget 2013 to address pressures relating to contractual commitments, drawdown of EU funding, replacement of Garda vehicles and to allow for the progression of a new children's detention facility at Oberstown.

There will, of course, be direct employment benefits in the delivery of the infrastructure proposed in the Investment Framework and most importantly from the contribution that this capital investment makes to providing the capacity for the economy to grow. In this context, supports to the enterprise sector through agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and the IDA were protected in the review of the Public Capital Programme. The unprecedented level of investment over the past few years delivered through the Enterprise Development Agencies helps to foster sustainable and valuable employment in the exporting sectors of the economy which will be critical to recovery.

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