Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 February 2025
86. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the measures his Department intends to take to expedite delivery of project assessments, appraisals, business cases, and other stages of the approval process, as set out in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5076/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government has committed to €165 billion in capital investment through the National Development Plan (NDP) published in 2021. As a percentage of national income, annual capital investment is now among the largest in the EU. In 2025, €15 billion will fund vital infrastructure in areas such as housing, transport, education, enterprise, sport and climate action. An additional €2.25 billion of windfall corporate tax receipts has also been allocated from 2024 to 2026, to provide funding for critical infrastructure projects that are at an advanced stage as well as to the existing Climate Action Fund.
The Programme for Government acknowledges that delays to project delivery result in higher costs and hamper our ability to provide the necessary infrastructure to service a modern society and economy. It also represents a real risk to our competitiveness and to our attractiveness as a location for foreign direct investment. Achieving value for money in a timely manner, while reducing cost and schedule overruns is a vital part of delivering the NDP.
My Department is responsible for the Infrastructure Guidelines, which replaced the Public Spending Code and were published in December 2023, with an effective date of 1 January 2024. These set the value for money guidance for evaluating, planning and managing Exchequer-funded capital projects. Management and delivery of investment projects and public services within allocation and the national frameworks is a key responsibility of every Department and Minister.
My Department have refreshed the requirements for capital projects in the Infrastructure Guidelines, reducing the number of approval stages prior to implementation from 5 to 3 and streamlining the requirements for major projects, raising the level of cost at which a project is considered a major project to €200m. This allows for projects below this limit to proceed more speedily through the appraisal and evaluation process compared to those of greater scale and complexity.
This is a significant policy development that allows those departments that are responsible, greater freedom to pursue the delivery of their priority projects.
In addition, the Programme for Government commits my Department to reviewing the Infrastructure Guidelines and to create a Public Investment Act, requiring sponsoring agencies to meet timelines on development of project appraisals and other evaluations so as to reduce delays in decision making and embed value for money across all capital projects.
As with previous updates to the appraisal framework, any changes made as part of the proposed Public Investment Act will reflect international best practice with the aim to ensure value for money for the tax payer in delivering on the infrastructural requirements of the State.
