John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)

I thank the witnesses very much for joining us. It is important to put on record at the outset where, from an economic perspective, we have come from in terms of the quadrupling in capital investment, through financial prudence and the general strength of the economy. Without that, we could be having a conversation about where we are going to get the finances to pursue whatever projects we choose. It is important to note that.

From an infrastructure perspective in general, we are looking to the future. We want to see development, progress and advancement but if we cast our mind back to earlier this year when we had individuals around the country who were without power or communications networks for weeks and months on end, the first step is that we must get that right and ensure there is a level of robustness in the networks in order that we deal with the risks in that regard in as effective a manner as possible.

In that context, the first thing we must do is change the name of the national development plan to the national development and delivery plan. Development is ongoing. We will talk about it for ever. I could give two pages of examples of what we have been talking about for ever, one being the water supply for the east and midlands, which was on the first consultation report in 2015. We are still talking about it ten years later. We know we need the water supply. We need the offshoots now in towns en route from the west to the east, yet we are still talking about it. We must stop talking and start delivering. I was a councillor at the time. There are a lot of fresh faces in this room. There was an air of frustration around the national development plan. There was much theoretical work and nice colours on maps, especially relating to the zoning of land that was never going to be developed for various local reasons. We must take that into consideration.

I appreciate that we must take a holistic view and determine where capital development will take place but we must figure out how we are going to mitigate the bottlenecks at a local level, and how that can be addressed. I will use one local town in my county as an example. Edenderry is basically locked down until 2029. We must figure out who the liaison officer is and who represents the collective grouping of all these services or utilities to determine how we break down these barriers. It is simply not acceptable to say that a town with a growing population that is within commuting distance of the capital city will not be developed until 2029. That makes no sense whatsoever. We must figure it out and put a plan in place.

Mr. Moloney referred to the three steps in his Department but, unfortunately, the reality is there are probably double that number of steps in the Department in terms of its procedures. If we attach four months, for example, to each of these steps and give six to a Department and four to his Department, we are talking about 40 months of planning. That is without any obstacles on the road. We must determine how we are going to reduce the length of the process, and we must make a commitment in that regard. There is an onus and responsibility on us. When there is a bump in the road, utility providers must come to us with solutions rather than problems. I do not want to name any utility providers. However, we must work with them, almost in a public-private-partnership way, to determine how we can deliver on a more efficient basis.

I attended an event this morning at the national construction training campus, Mount Lucas. One thing that struck me during my visit is the focus on the use of digital in construction. We talk about bricks and mortar and men on sites, but we are now looking at 3D printers of concrete, virtual reality planning and so on. When we read reports about the global position, to a certain extent, Europe seems to be lagging behind in terms of digitisation, and over-regulation could be another aspect of it. How do we determine whether we are moving at the right pace in that space or gaining value for money? How do we benchmark in an area like that where it is essentially cutting edge? There is an element of intercontinental global competition as well. How do we set out the roadmap to ensure we deliver?

Like the Chair, I am not talking about cutting corners. We must ensure that whatever steps we take in a digital sense are done in a safe manner. There may be a sense out there that we must move at a greater pace.

Mr. Moloney has been Secretary General of the Department for the past four years. We talk about value for money, delivery and what we need to do. What is his proudest moment or what project is he most proud of in terms of what we have delivered for the nation in the four years he has been there?