Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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Yes, we are. Before my time runs out, I want to move to capital delivery. As always, there have been some questions from Deputies on specific projects. One of the things I wanted to question is the general decision-making relating capital plans. The briefing provided states that when developing the annual capital plan, the number of projects competing for inclusion in the plan each year invariably exceeds the funding available and it is therefore necessary to carry out a robust prioritisation exercise to ensure the best value is achieved from the available capital budget. That seems fair enough. Obviously, we have more plans than we have money to spend on those plans, which is also fair enough. I am trying to understand who is doing that prioritisation and who is at the decision-making table when that happens. The briefing also states that the final decision to proceed with construction on any proposal, and therefore to estimate the cost or timelines, cannot be made until a project has the final business case, the tender process has been completed and the costings reviewed to ensure the proposal delivers value for money and remains affordable.

To follow up on my question regarding who is making those decisions and prioritising various capital spending, is it the case in regards to the decision-making around capital spending that final business cases are in place, the tender process has been completed and the costings have been reviewed? That is not necessarily what we are seeing on the ground. I would cite, for example, the situation in Carrigaline, where a project was moved ahead with but planning permission was not even in place. Significant sums of money are being spent. I am not going to bring up the national maternity hospital, but that is a case in point where significant public money is being spent on projects where the full costings are not known, planning permission or tender processes are not necessarily in place and the business case, as with the national maternity hospital, is not held by the Department.