David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Watt and his team. I will stick entirely to the basis upon which he has been invited here because I have respect for his office. It is up to him, as the Accounting Officer, to ensure that respect goes both ways. I return to Mr. Watt's opening statement and his point that "the selection, appraisal and delivery of individual public sector capital projects is the responsibility of each relevant Department". That is correct. There is no quarrel from this committee with that. He noted that his Department "is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the National Development Plan within Project Ireland 2040, supporting value for money and protecting sustainable capital investment." We also agree with and support that view. There are ten major projects contained in Project Ireland 2040. All of them are worthy projects and important for the State. We certainly also agree with that. Which of those ten projects is the most advanced? There is MetroLink, the national children's hospital, the water supply project in the eastern and midlands region, the N20 from Cork to Limerick, the Galway city ring road, the public private partnership for the M11 from Gorey to Enniscorthy, the greater Dublin drainage project, the N21-N69 from Limerick to Adare and Foynes, the PPP for the N25 New Ross bypass and the national broadband plan. Which one of those is most advanced?