Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

The Government recently announced a comprehensive review of capital spending which is now under way. The review will examine capital proposals across all sectors of the economy to establish a set of priority projects and programmes that will support economic recovery and provide new employment opportunities. The results will form the basis of a new national development plan.

The preparation of the new framework requires that my Department review all existing projects and programmes. The review will also need to take account of new funding realities. A major priority will be to ensure funding to protect and maintain investment made to date and to maintain high safety standards. This will of necessity restrict the funding for new projects, with only those offering the highest return having any prospect of being prioritised.

As part of the review process all agencies funded by my Department have been requested to make submissions supporting their programmes and setting priorities in a scenario of reduced allocations. Submissions have recently been received from the National Transport Authority, Railway Procurement Agency and Iarnród Éireann in regard to public transport projects. These submissions are being examined by my officials and will inform my Department's conclusions on the capital review.

I will not speculate on the outcome of the review. However, I have already stated that, given funding constraints and the uncertainty about the availability of private funding for major infrastructure projects, it is likely that only one of the major Dublin projects can proceed in the period to 2016. I will seek to secure that outcome if at all possible.

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