Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There will be an impact from the shutdown of the construction sector for the first four months of the year. That has impacted on the delivery of projects and spending so some timelines will be impacted. In the last crisis, capital investment was cut by about 60% from peak to trough. We are maintaining and building on an elevated level of capital expenditure. We believe that it will be at the heart of the recovery of the Irish economy. I am working closely with all of my colleagues across Government on the roll-out of their capital investment projects. We have introduced some enhanced reporting requirements where all of Cabinet will be provided with information on capital investment progress across key spending Departments, which is important. I am confident that this Government will deliver on the ambitions in the national development plan and the new national development plan which will be agreed. That will underline the priority that this Government attaches to capital investment. We are playing catch-up and investing in our critical infrastructure is the right thing to do. I have to make sure that it is done as efficiently as possible and that we get value for taxpayers' money.

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