Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2019
30. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if ex-post reviews are completed and published for all capital projects; and if a summary of lessons from those reviews has been published in the past 18 months. [18057/19]
View answerAll capital projects in excess of €20m have to be subjected to a post-project review to determine if the predicted benefits of the project were realised. For capital projects the benefits will not be realised until the project has completed.
The aim of the post-project review is to determine whether:
- the basis on which the project was undertaken proved correct
- the expected benefits and outcomes materialised
- the planned outcomes were the appropriate response to actual public needs
- the appraisal and management procedures adopted were satisfactory
- conclusions can be drawn which are applicable to other projects; to the ongoing use of the asset; or to associated policies
Post-project reviews, should be undertaken once sufficient time has elapsed, to allow the project to be properly evaluated with sufficient evidence of the flow of benefits and costs from the capital investment.
The Sponsoring Agency – the agency with overall responsibility for the project appraisal, planning and management of the project has responsibility for carrying out and publishing the post project review. Significant lessons emerging from the post project review should inform the Sponsoring Agency’s practices and should be communicated both within the organisation and to the Sanctioning Authority – the agency responsible for granting the project approval.
DPER Circular 06/2018 ‘The Public Spending Code: Publication of Post Project Reviews’ stresses the importance of compliance with the Public Spending Code requirement to conduct post-project reviews in the case of all large scale public investment projects, including PPP’s. Subject to the redaction of any commercially sensitive information publication of post project reviews for all public investment projects, including PPPS is implemented with effect from 26 March 2018.
Responsibility for carrying out and publishing post-project reviews rests with the individual Sponsoring Agencies. It is a matter for the individual sponsoring agencies to confirm the reviews that have been published in the last 18 months.
