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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 36 together.

The Government has committed to €165 billion in capital investment through the national development plan published in 2021. As a percentage of national income, annual capital investment is now among the largest in the European Union. In 2023, almost €13 billion will fund vital infrastructure in areas such as housing, transport, education, enterprise, sport and climate action. Achieving value for money and reducing cost and schedule overruns form a vital part of delivering the national development plan.

The Government and I acknowledge the significant investment under the NDP does not come without delivery challenges. As the Deputy knows, delivery of some projects has been adversely impacted over the past three years as a result of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. I am acutely aware in particular of the challenges the construction industry has faced in terms of material price inflation, labour supply constraints and supply chain disruption. As a result of this, to safeguard the delivery of important projects, in January 2022, my Department introduced measures to address inflation for new contracts and tenders. Furthermore, in May 2022, a new set of measures to apportion additional inflation costs between the parties to public works contracts were introduced.

Nonetheless, no one is any doubt that the need to ensure timely project delivery must be part of the Government’s focus to respond effectively to the pressing challenges of our time, especially, of course, in housing, health and climate. The renaming of my Department as the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform has brought about a greater emphasis and mandate for the delivery of the NDP. Therefore, we have taken the following six actions: significant changes to reduce the administrative burden in delivering major capital projects; I am now chairing the Project Ireland 2040 delivery board; capacity reviews of Departments and agencies with significant delivery programmes to be carried out to ensure we have the adequate resources in place for project delivery; additional reforms to the capital works management framework; direct reporting to Government on NDP delivery on a quarterly basis; and an independent evaluation of the priorities of the national development plan and the capacity our economy needs to turn these priorities into new homes and schools and improved connectivity in our country.

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