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

I am aware of the report which supports the broad consensus on the need for increased public investment. The current capital plan sets a baseline from which this Government intends to increase investment in critical infrastructure into the future.

As outlined in the 2017 Estimates, gross voted capital expenditure will increase to €4.5 billion in 2017. This represents an increase of almost €400 million in comparison to the 2016 outturn. By 2021, it is envisaged that gross voted capital expenditure will reach €7.3 billion, an increase of over 100% in comparison to its level in 2014. Based on Department of Finance Gross National Product forecasts Ireland's Exchequer public investment will reach 2.7% of GNP by that point.

In addition, as outlined in the capital plan, the wider State sector, including our ports, airports, energy network etc., plans to invest €14.5 billion in capital projects over the period 2016-2021. This amounts to approximately €2.4 billion invested per year and brings total State-backed investment in 2017 to 3.1% of GNP, rising to 3.7% of GNP by 2021, which is the figure I referred to earlier. This will be allocated to identified priorities on the basis of the outcome of the review of the capital plan currently under way.  

The first phase will refer to decisions to be made in the context of budget 2018 and the second phase, which will commence before the end of 2017, will assess and report on the framework required for a much longer term analysis of our needs. As I said earlier, public consultation in this regard will begin next week.

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