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

The capital allocations made in budget 2018 and the national development plan were informed by the extensive evidence base collated and published on the Department's website in 2017 as part of the mid-year capital review. The evidence base included a macroeconomic analysis, an assessment of progress to date on the 2015 plan, departmental submissions, a public consultation process, an infrastructure capacity and demand analysis and an analysis of the resourcing available for increased investment. In addition to this, a review of public private partnerships, PPPs, was undertaken by the public investment management assessment unit of the International Monetary Fund.

It should be noted, that while I am responsible for setting the overall allocations across Government Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure, decisions on which capital projects are prioritised within these allocations are matters for Ministers and have to be taken in the context of the national development plan.

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