Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We had an earlier debate on this. We have a pipeline system and when cases are deemed urgent they go into the pipeline. That can be a frustrating process. Site issues, planning issues and design issues can arise. We have probably 100 projects on the go all the time and many in the pipeline coming through. We can get instances such as the one we spoke about earlier where we can get hiccups in the process and something that would be perceived as urgent is nonetheless delayed for planning or site reasons. We do the very best to avoid that. We make sure that not a cent is wasted. We never give money back to the Department of Finance unspent at the end of the year because we make sure we have enough projects of a quality, that are well designed and shovel ready to make sure we spend every penny we get. I am confident the system works, but that is not to say I will not be looking to see if can we improve it as we move ahead.

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