James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will continue with the line of question I was on. I regret to tell the Secretary General that I am very worried by the presentation and the answering of my questions earlier, and Deputy Murphy built upon it. Mr. Moloney needs to appreciate that, from our point of view, the public has no confidence in our State's ability to deliver on capital infrastructure. I cannot blame the public for that. If we look at all the major public transport infrastructure projects in the country that have been proposed, shelved and cancelled and all the issues that have arisen with An Bord Pleanála and the planning system itself, there are so many problems. It is hard to know where to start. Above all else, it is hurting the economy. The Department has had, between 2015 and 2017, a review of more than €40 billion in expenditure and more than 80 spending review papers. In regard to the questions I asked today, while Mr. Moloney answered them, I regret to say he did so very poorly when it came to those efficiencies. I am particularly interested in capital infrastructure which, outside of the Department of Health, is one of the biggest users of the capital in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and it is where we can make efficiencies. Will Mr. Moloney take another opportunity to tell the Committee of Public Accounts how we are going to deal with the extraordinary mess our country has when it comes to building basic infrastructure such as roads and rail? Will he give us any further outline of what is underway and what is being proposed rather than giving us sentiments that something needs to be done about it?