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

In agreeing an NDP out to 2030 and setting capital budgets for each Department out to 2025, we now have a multi-annual framework that will enable Ministers and their Departments to plan the delivery of vital infrastructure projects over a number of years. At €12 billion this year, we have the largest ever capital budget and there is an obligation on every Department to ensure we are working in a coherent and consistent manner towards the implementation of the national planning framework and implementing the NDP in its totality. That involves working towards compact growth, and we need to ensure all the levers we have, whether that is investment in healthcare, education or transport, are consistent with that objective. Moreover, there is the Project Ireland 2040 delivery board, which has overall responsibility for overseeing the delivery of the NPF and the NDP. As the Deputy will be aware, I recently concluded a process whereby I appointed a number of external members to that board to complement the experience and skills of the Secretaries General who continue to serve on it.

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