Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 February 2024
87. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the progress made in delivering National Development Plan 2021-2030 projects for County Donegal for each year of the lifetime of the current Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5771/24]
View answerThis question relates to the delivery of the National Development Plan 2021-2030, particularly projects in County Donegal. What projects are there, how is the delivery is going and how will it be achieved?
As Minister for public expenditure, I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at departmental level. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects, within the allocations agreed under the national development plan, rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case. Expenditure is allocated and monitored on a departmental basis and not a geographical basis. The Deputy is aware of the overall €165 billion funding we are allocating over the lifetime of the plan. In 2024, more than €13 billion will be provided. We aim to maximise transparency regarding how that money is spent through a public capital investment tracker, through a map that allows us to see projects that are being delivered, and through regular updates of both. We have also published regional reports on Project Ireland 2040 and the three regional assembly areas. We did that for all of the years between 2018 and 2020.
I will highlight a few of the projects that are under way in Donegal, given the fact the Deputy mentioned it. He will be aware of what they are anyway, but still. They include the ocean innovation centre Ireland project; the N56 Dungloe to Glenties road project; the number of residential care facilities that are being completed, upgraded or built, including the Letterkenny community nursing unit and St. Joseph's in Stranorlar; social housing projects in Convent Road, Carndonagh, and other projects delivering in excess of 100,000 units in 2023; the Killybegs town regeneration project; important educational projects; and around 200 km of greenways which will be delivered by 2031, including the Inishowen to Buncrana greenway, which I hope will be a great amenity for the communities it will support.
All those projects are welcome and badly wanted. In the update report on Project Ireland 2040 annual report in 2022, Donegal did not receive a mention in terms of progress and how things are going. I think that is worrying in terms of the delivery of these projects. In the 2022 regional report, there were only three mentions of Donegal projects in total. On the projects that are referenced in the report, there are the projects the Minister has mentioned. There is also the Donegal group B sewerage scheme and wastewater treatment plant project, which was actually completed in 2018 but was included in the development report for the 2040 capital programme. There are other projects, including the project following the hospital flooding in Letterkenny, which actually happened in 2013. These projects are included there as well. It is a worrying development. While these projects need to be developed, we need to make sure the projects included in the report are relevant to the time, in operation at the time and not actually completed.
Now that the assembly is up and running again in the North, will the A5 project be developed? How will it be moved on?
I take on board that point the Deputy has made there. Given the number of projects that are under way in Donegal, it does appear the county should get a bit more reference in the publication to which the Deputy has referred. As he knows, the minute you start naming one county, it poses difficulties for other counties that are not mentioned. It is very difficult to please everybody all the time in the drafting of reports. I imagine that is the reason care is taken in referencing individual counties.
I hope the answer I have given to the Deputy is evidence of the number of projects that are under way that are being funded by the national development plan in the various communities he represents. The Government continues to remain committed to the development of the A5 project. I know that, in very general terms, the Government will shortly be considering proposals we can make that will support the really positive news regarding the reconstitution of the Good Friday institutions. We will look at how we can continue to support the development of an all-island economy to the particular benefit of the communities the Deputy just referenced. I expect there will be further progress on that soon.
I thank the Minister for the response. He referred to the Dungloe to Glenties section of the N56. There is also an important section from Mountcharles to Killybegs. It is important for the port of Killybegs, for renewable energy and for future developments there. That section would be important. It is not actually included in the plan at the moment. When will a review take place in order that projects could be added, if possible?
I am familiar with the Dungloe to Glenties road and can really imagine the benefit that will be brought to commuters and communities when that project is delivered. I will have to follow up with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, about the further extension that Deputy Pringle has referred to. I know the benefit that a change like that would bring to Killybegs and can see how it would be consistent with the further development of the port. I should emphasise that decisions relating to the funding of individual projects are a matter for individual Ministers. I will follow up with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and see if I can share any information with Deputy Pringle on that.
