Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I have. In the Estimates process that we went through for the 2017 budget, I asked Departments to specify, where possible, over a three-year timeframe what would be their particular capital needs. Not all Departments were able to do it but most were and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, put forward a view on the capital needs required for the third and fourth level sectors in coming years. My objective is that by putting in place a more formal review of the capital plan, every Department will have the opportunity to do this.

As we put together this process, I want a project-based approach to emerge. We should not go back to the point where we say there is a certain amount available to complete a project. The projects chase the money in those cases and the costs would increase. At other points in our history, we spent more on such projects than we should have. That is why I want to use a project-based approach to making decisions on the funding I referred to.

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