Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
47. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the extent to which delivery of the national development plan is in accord with expectations; if any issues have arisen or continue to arise that might impede the progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30952/23]
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) are key responsibilities of every Department and Minister.
However, the Government and I acknowledge that the significant investment under the NDP does not come without delivery challenges. As you know, delivery of some NDP projects has been adversely impacted over the past three years as a result of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. I am also acutely aware of the challenges that the construction industry has faced in terms of material price inflation, labour supply constraints, and supply chain disruption. As a result, in order to safeguard the delivery of key NDP projects, in January 2022, my Department introduced measures to address inflation for new contracts and tenders. Furthermore, in May 2022, a new set of measures to apportion additional inflation costs between the parties to public works contracts were introduced.
In terms of labour supply, I want to acknowledge the progress being made in terms of construction apprenticeships. In 2022, there was a total of 5,628 registrations in construction and construction-related apprenticeship programmes. This represented an increase of 26% on the pre-covid 2019 figure. In addition, I am aware that 39,955 employment permits were issued in 2022. Of these, 1,474 or 3.7% were for the construction sector.
Nevertheless, no-one is any doubt that the need to ensure timely project delivery must be part of the Government’s focus to respond effectively to the pressing challenges of our time, particularly in areas like housing, health and climate. The renaming of my Department as the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (DPENDR), has brought about a greater emphasis and mandate for the delivery of the NDP. In light of this new role, a review of the support structures and levers available across Government to maximise delivery of projects was undertaken. As a result, a series of actions and reforms were identified as priorities to improve delivery of NDP projects, including reducing the administrative burden on Departments charged with infrastructure delivery. Earlier this year, I secured Government approval for six priority actions which are:
• Significant changes to reduce the administrative burden in delivering major capital projects, through measures to streamline the Public Spending Code (to become the Infrastructure Guidelines);
• I am now taking a direct role in overseeing delivery of the NDP through chairing the Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board;
• Capacity reviews of departments and agencies with significant delivery programmes to be carried out, where appropriate, to ensure that adequate resources for project delivery are in place;
• Additional reforms to the Capital Works Management Framework, which sets out the contracts used for public capital projects;
• Direct reporting to Government on NDP delivery on a quarterly basis throughout 2023 and 2024 and
• An independent evaluation of NDP priorities and capacity.
This package represents a fresh approach to securing delivery as part of my Department’s enhanced remit around the NDP.
I am confident that the combination of the six priority actions above will boost the delivery of the critical infrastructure we need to support a growing economy and higher living standards for those living here. In particular, I believe input of experts on the Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board will highlight the key impediments to project delivery and I will work towards delivering mitigating actions to boost project delivery. In addition, my Department will continue to work closely with the construction sector in order to improve efficiency and enhanced delivery through the Construction Sector Group.
