Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2024
271. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if there are any plans or projects within his Department to improve the level of detail made public with respect to capital expenditure in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42812/24]
View answerMy Department plays a key role in developing and monitoring capital expenditure in line with Government objectives and agreed fiscal policy. Managing the delivery of public services within budgetary allocations is a key responsibility of each Minister and their Department. My Department is in regular communication with all Departments to ensure expenditure is managed within the overall fiscal parameter.
My Department already publishes myriad data pertaining to capital expenditure, for example there is a substantial amount of reporting and data available to the members of the Oireachtas and the public, which outline the cost range of projects and programmes being advanced and completed. The Project Ireland 2040 capital investment tracker highlights projects and programmes with a value greater than €20 million. Further to this, the MyProjectIreland interactive map, while not exhaustive, details almost 1,370 individual projects and contains smaller investments in sectors such as schools and social housing projects, with the locations shown on a map based on geo co-ordinates. The capital investment tracker and interactive map provide citizens with a comprehensive overview of the capital projects being delivered in their own areas.
In addition, my Department publishes the Project Ireland 2040 Annual and Regional reports which set out the progress being made on projects and programmes which are being planned and delivered throughout Ireland. The Build report provides a comprehensive insight and a number of key findings into various aspects of the construction and built environment sector including costs, planning, skills, productivity and sustainability. The Prospect report sets out a clear pipeline for 50 of the largest individual projects that make up Project Ireland 2040. This pipeline spans projects which are currently at planning and appraisal to projects which are completing construction this year.
My Department stays in regular communication with all other Departments to ensure expenditure is managed within overall fiscal parameters and key data and information in relation to voted expenditure, including capital expenditure, is published monthly in the Fiscal Monitor.
We also publish the Mid-Year Expenditure Report (MYER) which is an important document in the annual budget cycle. The MYER 2024 outlines the expenditure trends and gross voted expenditure for the first half of the year, provides context for planned expenditure in the subsequent Budget and highlights a range of impacts and outcomes of the current expenditure policy.
Further to these publications, my Department also publishes extensive details of capital allocations and outturns in the Budget Estimates for Public Services and the Revised Estimates for Public Services.
A requirement of the Infrastructure Guidelines is that each Approving Authority (usually Government department) should put in place an internal, independent Quality Assurance Process (QAP), involving annual reports, published on the Approving Authority’s website, on how organisations are meeting their Infrastructure Guidelines requirements.
These annual reports should include an inventory list drawn up of all projects/programmes that were valued in excess of €500,000 across three categories:
• Expenditure being considered
• Expenditure being incurred; and
• Expenditure recently ended
In addition, organisations are required to publish summary information on all procurements in excess of €10 million.
Finally, there is currently extensive reporting of capital projects in the financial statements of Government Departments and Offices as well as the annual reports and financial statements of bodies under their aegis. All Government Departments and Offices, as well as nearly all bodies under their aegis, report their capital assets (Property, Plant and Equipment as well as Intangible Assets) on the face of the Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet) along with extensive disclosure notes. Bodies under the Aegis and Local Authorities report under accounting framework FRS 102 and from 2024 Government Departments report using Central Government Accounting Standards based on International Public Sector Accounting Standards.
I believe that the information the Irish Public Sector makes available is among the best internationally, as it complies with recent Accounting Standards and has been guided by recommendations from international intergovernmental organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
