Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2014
285. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the projects that have gone to tender or commenced construction under the Government's stimulus plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25529/14]
View answer289. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of the €200 million designated as investment funded by national lottery licence for direct Exchequer capital funding according to the Government Estimates for 2014 is expected to go towards construction related projects; if he will list the projects; if he will provide an update on any of these projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25563/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 285 and 289 together.
Since July 2012, I have made a number of announcements in relation to additional capital investment to be funded from stimulus moneys:
- In July 2012 I announced a €2.25 billion Stimulus Package which included a new €1.5 billion PPP programme involving projects across the education, roads, healthcare and justice sectors;
- In June 2013, following on from the 2012 announcement, I allocated €150 million additional Exchequer investment to schools, energy efficiency and roads projects;
- In Budget 2014 I announced that, along with the €200 million already committed to the National Children's Hospital, some €200 million would be invested from the Lottery Licence transaction;
- Finally, in May of this year, I announced a further €200 million of investment in a range of capital projects to be funded from the proceeds of the sale of State assets.
As these announcements have been made at different junctures over the course of the last two years, some are more advanced than others. The PPP element of the stimulus plan was the first to be launched and is being delivered by a range of Government Departments and Agencies across the roads, education, healthcare and justice areas, working in conjunction with the National Development Finance Agency. The largest PPP in the July 2012 Stimulus announcement was the N17/N18 Gort to Tuam road and I am pleased to report that the contracts on this project were signed in April this year and construction of the project is now underway. In addition, seven of the announced projects have issued to market and the procurement process is in progress. These are:
- Schools Bundle 4
- Schools Bundle 5
- Grangegorman DIT - Central and East Quads
- Courts Bundle
- Primary Care Centres Bundle
- M11 Gorey Enniscorthy
- N25 New Ross Bypass
These projects are on course to reach financial close and commence construction later this year and in 2015.
At the time of the 2012 announcement, it was also envisaged that in the Justice area a bundle of three Garda divisional HQs would be progressed as a PPP. It has since been decided that these can be better delivered through traditional Exchequer investment and I understand that these will issue to market very shortly.
The Exchequer elements, although announced later than the PPP programme, are also progressing well. In relaton to the June 2013 package, the roads element was completed at the end of last year, construction has commenced on the Local Authority Energy Efficiency works and seven of the 28 schools projects are under construction, with 17 more at tender stage and the remaining four at pre-tender stage.
In relation to the National Lottery Licence funded projects, a full list of the projects and programmes included in this package are available on my Department's website (www.per.gov.ie). Most of these projects involve construction works; however, three involve non-construction related capital investment: the National Trading Online Voucher Scheme, National City of Culture and seed capital investment for a Book Rental Scheme for Primary Schools. The funding from the Lottery Licence for the three non-construction related projects comes to a total of €16 million. Looking at the package as a whole, eight projects are at planning or tender phase and nine have commenced construction or are being rolled out. The most recent announcement was made in May of this year and most of the projects involved in that package are still at the early phases of planning. As with the National Lottery Licence funding, a list of the projects and programmes included in this latest package is available on my Department's website. Further details on individual projects and programmes can be obtained from the relevant Ministers and their line Departments.
