Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
459. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will provide a list of all infrastructure programmes with an annual value in excess of €30 million and of five years or more duration, that in line with the Public Spending Code guidelines require ongoing monitoring and analysis from his Department, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17119/23]
View answerAs Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery, and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments. Management and delivery of individual investment projects within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan (NDP) is a key responsibility of every Department and Minister. Each Minister is responsible to deciding on the priority programmes and projects that will be delivered under their remit within the NDP and for setting out the timelines for delivery.
In 2023, over €12 billion is available from the Exchequer for investment in public capital projects, which will provide more schools, homes, hospitals and other pieces of vital infrastructure. This level of expenditure will be pivotal in consolidating the progress already made, and, most importantly, delivering the necessary infrastructure to support our future climate change obligations as well as our social and economic requirements.
On 28 March 2023, the Government were informed of changes to the capital appraisal guidelines arising out of a review of the Public Spending Code undertaken by Government officials. The purpose of the review was to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the key actors within the Public Spending Code and the upcoming Infrastructure Guidelines and, to streamline the process to best match the realities of project development. The threshold for major projects is upgraded from €100 million to €200 million, and these major projects will be subject to DPENDR/Major Projects Advisory Group (MPAG) review at the Preliminary Business Case stage only. Circular 6/23 on Interim Amendments to the Public Spending Code was published by my Department on March 29th setting out the key interim changes to the Public Spending Code. The new Infrastructure Guidelines will be finalised in the coming month with a planned publication in Q2 2023.
In relation to Major Project Advisory Group reviews since its establishment in Q1 2022, all MPAG reviews are published at the following website. There are 4 reviews published in 2022 in relation to major transport, health and urban development projects which are over the €100 million threshold in 2022: www.gov.ie/en/publication/f0694-major-projects-advisory-group/.
The Government is also committed to continue to detail progress on the delivery of the NDP at regular intervals into the future to allow for full transparency on the implementation of Project Ireland 2040. This will be achieved through regular updates of the Project Ireland 2040 capital investment tracker and map as well as the publication of annual reports and regional reports highlighting Project Ireland 2040 achievements and giving a detailed overview of the public investments that have been made throughout the country.
The latest iterations of the Project Ireland 2040 capital investment tracker and map, from February 2023, are detailed at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/f828b-myprojectireland-interactive-map/. They contain project updates and the latest timelines for delivery for key NDP projects.
The capital investment tracker provides a composite update on the progress of all major investments with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million. Accompanying the tracker, the myProjectIreland interactive map details projects across the country and provides details on specific projects by county, including smaller investments such as schools and social housing projects. Search facilities also allow citizens to view projects in their regional area, by city, by county or by eircode. The most recent version of the capital tracker and map were published in February 2023.
