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

There are two learnings that I have taken from the Luas cross-city project. The first is that if one has a State body that is led strongly with the right expertise in place and with a really clear mandate that is supported politically by its line Department, it can deliver complex projects on time and under budget. It is worth emphasising that Luas cross-city is a light rail project that, by and large, was built in the middle of our capital city and the complexities involved in that were immense. That is certainly something that I will be keeping in mind when we move forward.

Regarding the public investment management assessment, PIMA, report prepared by the IMF, the Deputy is correct that the IMF points out that in some areas, infrastructure is an impediment to realising all that we could do economically and socially. I have said the same on a number of occasions already. However, the IMF also said that in other areas, the quality and quantity of our infrastructural stock is positive. In response to the Deputy's questions on sectors, I intend that the capital plan will be multisectoral but there will be a balance. It is not realistic or achievable for the Government to say how every cent that may be available to the country will be spent over the next decade. We have to allow business cases to be made and we have to allow the national planning framework to be transferred into a reality in regions as well. As I said, we want to highlight and identify some key projects and then to create a framework for others.

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