Derek McDowell
Ceist:27 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Finance if he is satisfied with the rate of implementation of the national development plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12503/02]
Priority Questions. - National Development Plan.
Mr. McCreevy: I am satisfied with the rate of implementation of the national development plan. Good progress has been made in implementing the NDP infrastructure programme with financial outturns well on target and significant physical output being recorded. Progress is also satisfactory in the area of human resource development. Progress is behind profile in areas of productive sector investment due to lower than expected demand and in certain other areas where programme roll out has been delayed by factors such as awaiting state aids approval from the EU and the impact of the foot and mouth crisis. With regard to the key area of infrastructure, NDP investment is mostly provided for in the economic and social infrastructure operational programme – ESIOP – of the plan.
Over the first three years of the plan, total investment under the ESIOP will amount to €10.2 billion, €140 million more than originally planned. More significantly, the Exchequer and EU contribution will amount to €8.5 billion, which is €740 million more than originally planned. This more than offset some shortfalls in projected non-Exchequer sources of funding including CIE's own resource funding of NDP public transport investment and local authority funding of water services investment.
The implementation of the NDP is fundamental to maintaining national competitiveness. The Government's commitment to the plan is evidenced by the fact that the Exchequer allocation for NDP infrastructure investment over the first three years of the plan was well in excess of the original projection. I assure the Deputy that implementation of the plan will remain a top priority of Government policy.
I accept the Government has spent money but what is at issue is whether the plan is being delivered in terms of resources on the ground, particularly for infrastructure. Four, if not six, essential road plans, some of which are bypasses, were put on hold by him this year and all he has done is provide funds to ensure money that is contractually committed is spent while planning that had been undertaken meticulously over the past 18 months on roads into Enniscorthy, Carrickmacross and the bypasses of Monasterevan and Ennis has been put on hold because money was stopped at the last moment.
Almost €1 billion will be spent on the national primary roads programme this year and there will be €5.5 billion in the Exchequer capital programme whereas in 1997 the total was €1.5 billion. There have been colossal increases.
The Government has only built 33 km. of road in five years. Why?
I accept there are problems regarding the implementation of certain aspects of the roads programme and other infrastructural programmes.
And the health service.
These are Priority Questions and this question is confined to Deputy McDowell.
Many of the problems involved do not relate to money. Planning is one of the biggest areas of contention and is slowing down many of these projects. Planning is litigious and one must go through extraordinary inquiries to balance individual rights against the national interest. On the specific question, the amount that was programmed to be spent from Exchequer funds is over and above what had been planned. More than €740 million extra will be spent by the Exchequer by the end of the year than had been planned when we set our targets. Everything in the NDP is predicated on the availability of resources. Not all projects can be undertaken today but the plan is flexible enough to be rolled out over a period of time and everything will be achieved when it is concluded. Everything cannot be done today.
The problem in this area is the stop-go nature of implementation. I accept for many years there was a problem with planning in terms of roads and the process is lengthy, tortuous and sometimes takes longer than it should, but the NRA has got its act together partly because of additional staff sanctioned by the Minister's Department and partly because it was given the green light for the projects it had to deliver. However, when everything was in place the funds suddenly dried up and projects for which tenders had almost been accepted were put on hold again. They are not being delivered on the ground, irrespective of whether money is being spent.
Deputy McDowell is correct.
Extraordinary panicky comments have been made by people in this area. At the start of the plan the Construction Industry Federation pleaded with the Government to slow things down because its members could not do all the work and they did not want foreign competitors to come in to do the work, yet they could not get around to it.
The only point on which I agree is that we were not receiving proper value for money. This is because inflation in the construction industry was of the order of 15% to 20%. This meant we were receiving less of a return on the money we were spending. It was amusing then to hear the feder ation say the opposite at the beginning of this year and that we should roll out more money.
I did not design the national development plan for the benefit of the construction industry. This may come as a surprise to some members of the Construction Industry Federation. The plan exists for the benefit of the people and its roll-out has been progressive. Extraordinary amounts of money are being spent in the most effective way possible to obtain the best value for money over the time. The Deputy mentioned some of the contracts which will proceed soon. As Minister for Finance, I sanctioned additional resources and staffing for the National Roads Authority to speed up its plans. All this was done with the aim of delivering on the commitments in the national development plan over its period. I will not take action which will give less value for money. No Government can say that all these matters will be done today, no matter what pressure is exerted by individual constituencies throughout the country, pressure to which we have all been subjected. The plan is to be rolled out up to 2006 and it will be fulfilled.
May I ask a brief supplementary question?
We have exceeded the six minutes for the question.