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

On that point, as the Deputy may be aware, we are setting up a new climate division within my Department because we sit at the centre of government and have a key role in ensuring Government policy will be applied consistently throughout the Departments. Agreeing the multi-annual capital framework has enabled Departments to undertake that co-ordinated forward planning he talked about. It is important schools be built in tandem with the delivery of homes in order that as children grow up, school places will be available and we will not always be playing catch-up in trying to retrofit infrastructure where homes have been built. When it comes to transport, for example, we have made an exception to our multi-annual policy and provided transport with the certainty of a €35 billion capital budget out to 2030. It is about ensuring all these Departments work together towards that NSO 1, which is about compact growth.

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