Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 February 2019
85. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his attention has been drawn to cost overruns on public infrastructure projects; if so, the details of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7289/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department monitors overall expenditure by Departments. Responsibility for the management of individual projects rests with the relevant sponsoring Department or Agency. As such, I would not be systematically informed of cost overruns at project level.
The Deputy may have in mind funding of the National Children's Hospital. My Department has been engaging with the Department of Health and with other Departments in relation to how the increased costs of the National Children's Hospital project in 2019 will be managed within the overall agreed capital allocation for 2019, in light of the multi-year management of the broad range of capital projects amounting to upwards of €7 billion this year.
The Government has approved proposals in this regard which I announced yesterday. The overall intention is to proceed with our very ambitious agenda of strategic infrastructure investment throughout the course of 2019 and subsequent years, with the minimum of disruption to the rollout and delivery of key projects.
