Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I will move on to initiatives relating to public capital projects. Public capital investment can play an important role, both in promoting employment and in addressing worthwhile, visible and pressing infrastructure needs throughout the country. Despite our current circumstances, we will continue to invest in such worthwhile and necessary projects, with the considerable sum of €4.6 billion being allocated for 2011. Capital investment can stimulate economic activity as well as providing direct employment, with an average of eight to 12 direct jobs being created per €1 million of capital expenditure. Additionally, well-targeted investment in infrastructure can have significantly higher indirect job creation impacts in the medium term. However, an investment programme must strike an appropriate balance between projects the purpose of which is to create new capacity, for example, new roads or new schools, and works whose purpose is to maintain the capacity of existing infrastructure by carrying out necessary repair and maintenance. The comprehensive review of State capital spending to which I have already made reference will help the Government to get this balance right in relation to 2012 and beyond.

In the meantime, I have decided that there is a case for tilting the balance for 2011 in the direction of what are called minor capital works and away from new build projects. This is largely on the grounds that I think more resources than originally provided should be directed towards ensuring that our existing stock of infrastructure does not become degraded. A welcome consequence of this is that there will be some modest boost to employment since minor capital works tend to be more employment intensive than larger projects.

Specifically, there will be further investment in schools, local and regional roads and the national energy retrofitting programme.

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