Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
283. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects the various targets in Project Ireland 2040 to be achieved on time and within budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11620/22]
View answerThe revised National Development Plan (NDP) was published in October 2021, committing to an overall investment of €165 billion in the years from 2021 to 2030.
The majority of public investment projects are delivered on budget and on time and there is a high level of professionalism across the sectors.
Reforms are ongoing in governance and broader capability to help ensure successful delivery. There are a number of ongoing measures which seek to further develop the capacity of the public sector over the coming period and ensure the effective delivery of the NDP. These include:
- the establishment of the Commercial Skills Academy in the Office of Government Procurement;
- expansion of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES);
- a range of reforms in the planning area including the establishment of a new Division of the High Court dealing with planning and environmental issues;
- the Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board which oversees the delivery of the NDP has recently been extended to include five external members bringing additional expert knowledge, independent and regional perspectives, and an enhanced challenge function.
Two elements have been introduced to strengthen the assurance process for major public investment projects to provide more structured scrutiny.
These two elements are:
- The introduction of an independent external review of Exchequer-fund projects over €100m at two major decision gates in the project lifecycle and
- The Major Projects Advisory Group- as a prerequisite to seeking Government approval for projects at the relevant decision gates, project proposals and external reviews are now scrutinised by the Advisory Group in advance of the decision to proceed.
These reforms, alongside ongoing engagement with the construction sector regarding capacity and innovation, will help ensure the effective delivery of Project Ireland 2040 on time and on budget.
For an extensive list of projects that are currently planned as part of Project Ireland 2040, the Deputy might consider the publications that were published alongside the NDP in October 2021, particularly the updated Investment tracker which is available at gov.ie/2040. The tracker provides a composite update on the progress of all major investments with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million.
