Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 30 Nov 2000

Vol. 527 No. 2

Written Answers. - National Plan.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

89 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance the progress to date in terms of expenditure in respect of the national plan; if it is anticipated that all moneys identified for expenditure during the course of the plan will be drawn down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28118/00]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

The most recent information available to me for expenditure under the national development plan as at end June 2000 and is as follows:

NDP Expenditure Year 2000

Operational Programme	£Million
Employment and Human Resources	554
Productive Sector	35
BMW	55
S&E	86
Economic and Social Infrastructure	1,074 (end September)

Progress to date on implementation of the NDP is satisfactory and will gather pace as projects and schemes get fully under way and attention is focused more on implementation rather than preparations. I am confident that all moneys identified for expenditure during the course of the plan will be drawn down. This will be assured because general progress under the plan is being monitored by the NDP/CSF monitoring committee and, at operational programme level, by the individual OP monitoring committees. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Infrastructure and Public Private Partnerships, supported by a high level cross-departmental team, have assumed overall responsibility for ensuring that the key infrastructural investments under the plan are delivered. If, at any stage, remedial action should prove necessary to secure timely implementation of the plan, the arrangements in place between the Cabinet Sub-Committee and the monitoring committees are sufficiently flexible to enable decisive corrective action to be taken.

Overall expenditure on infrastructure under the plan in 2000 is expected to be close to the plan target for the year and expenditure on national roads is ahead of target. As regards the other categories of infrastructure, and as outlined in my reply to the Deputy's parliamentary Ques tion No. 116 on 26 October last on the matter, the normal pattern is for most of the expenditure on them to occur in the latter part of the year.