Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit freisin as an gcur i láthair sin. On the Government's approach to public procurement and capital development, I think there is a major problem with its ability to deliver on capital projects throughout Ireland. There are major difficulties in this regard, and this situation is costing the State greatly in terms of money and in terms of badly needed services and facilities that are delivered very slowly.

The national children's hospital is an example. There has been an overspend of €1.4 billion and it is six years late. A total of €300 million has been spent on the metro in Dublin but not one shovel has been put into the ground. Regarding the flooding issue, a context in which the Minister of State has obviously been to the fore recently, and to take Midleton as an example, we have seen how the delivery of capital projects is just glacial, and this comes at an enormous cost to individuals. I spoke to Mona Stromsoe, the chair of the Midleton flood defence committee, and we have a situation where a public consultation was held in 2016 after the last flood and storm hit the area, which I think was Storm Frank in 2015, and yet the planning permission for that project is not expected to be delivered until next year. We often hear about the difficulties that exist because of court cases taken to challenge applications for planning permission, but here is an example of a project, very much needed in terms of the safety and protection of property in Midleton, not even having come to fruition in terms of gaining planning permission in eight years.

Another example is that there are now 3,500 local authority homes empty throughout the State. It is taking eight months, on average, to turn around a local authority home and get it back into use. In the case of a private home for rent on the market, however, it takes three weeks to achieve the same outcome. It seems to me, therefore, that the delivery of Government projects is wrapped up in an enormous amount of waste, bureaucracy and red tape.

Returning to the Midleton situation, there is talk now that work on that project will not start until 2029, which seems astounding. I am a left-of-centre political activist and I like to see the delivery of public procurement, but my faith in this concept has been deeply damaged by this Government's record in this area. Why, then, is it taking so long for projects, such as the Midleton flood defence work, to even get to the stage of applying for planning permission, never mind issues around court cases that may or may not happen or the delivery of the procurement and construction of the flood defences themselves?