Seán Ryan
Ceist:64 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on the recently published guidelines for the appraisal and management of public capital programmes and projects. [7202/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 3 March 2005
Ceisteanna (65)
Freagraí scríofa
The recently revised guidelines for the appraisal and management of capital expenditure proposals in the public sector are part of the Government's continuing commitment to maximising value for money from public expenditure. They will complement the rolling multi-annual capital envelopes introduced in budget 2004. The new guidelines are designed to be rigorous in their approach to the management and evaluation of capital programmes and project appraisal and management and to reflect best practice, while introducing greater proportionality into project assessment. All projects under capital programmes or included in business plans must be subject to project appraisal.
Under the revised guidelines, projects involving minor refurbishment works, fit outs and so on with a value of less than €0.5 million will undergo a simple assessment. Projects between €0.5 million and €5 million will be the subject of a single appraisal, comprising elements of preliminary appraisal to determine if a project justifies more detailed consideration and detailed appraisal to determine if a project should go to planning and implementation stages.
A preliminary appraisal and a full detailed appraisal will be carried out for all projects costing over €5 million. These larger projects will undergo a more sophisticated analysis with projects over €50 million required to undergo a full cost-benefit analysis at detailed appraisal stage. All capital programmes with an annual value in excess of €50 million and of five years' duration or more will, for the first time, be required to be evaluated at the beginning and mid-point of each five-year cycle, unless otherwise agreed by the Department of Finance. Formal structures for the monitoring and management of investment programmes to include the appointment of a programme co-ordinator and a monitoring committee must also be put in place.
The new guidelines also provide for a clearer definition of the respective roles and responsibilities of all involved in the management and appraisal of capital programmes and projects, Government, Ministers, the Department of Finance, Departments and public bodies. Furthermore, the guidelines contain the Department of Finance general conditions of sanction to expenditure under the capital envelopes. Under the general conditions of sanction for the multi-annual capital envelopes, Departments are required to comply in all cases with my Department's guidelines for the appraisal and management of capital projects. Under the Department of Finance general conditions of sanction to the capital envelopes, Departments must put in place systems to report regularly to their management on the evaluation of projects prior to approval, the management of capital projects and progress on capital programmes. They must also arrange to carry out spot-checks for compliance with the capital appraisal guidelines and report on these and on progress generally under their capital envelopes to the Department of Finance.
The NDP-CSF evaluation unit will review on behalf of the Department of Finance the reports from Departments on the spot checks for compliance. My Department will consider any recommendations from the unit in this regard and take any necessary follow-up actions with Departments.