Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are reviewing the capital plan and a consultation process hosted by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is under way. We have received several depressing presentations on the state of capital infrastructure, be it roads or public transport. The Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, presentation some weeks ago was particularly depressing. We will be spending less on our road network in 2025 than we were in 2008. Spending on road maintenance, never mind new road projects, will be €400 million behind where it should be by 2020. Deputy Ryan will probably discuss public transport, but we are ignoring the potential value of public private partnerships, PPPs, as regards roads. The TII has been told that it cannot use the PPP model for road projects. We have not engaged with the Juncker capital plan in terms of the money that it makes available.

Is Mr. Watt or Mr. Moran engaging with the EU on relaxing its fiscal rules for capital projects? Such projects seem to be coming to a standstill. TII's pipeline will dry up by 2018. That means that, even if extra funding were to become available, the pipeline will not exist. It takes seven years to get a road project from commencement to being on site. Many factors are conspiring against our capital infrastructure at a time when it is creaking. What are the witnesses' thoughts on that and the rules and how are their Departments engaging with the EU on relaxing fiscal rules in terms of capital expenditure?