Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Securing value for money is a central priority for this Government and is at the heart of all decision making at every stage of a policy, project or programme's life cycle, and it should be. Delivering value for money is about securing the efficient and effective use of public resources in the pursuit of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland. Achieving value for money is the responsibility of each Minister and Department spending public funds. The Accounting Officers of those Departments and offices are accountable to the Comptroller and Auditor General and their respective Oireachtas committees for that spending. Accounting Officers must ensure that capital projects for which they have statutory responsibility are managed and delivered effectively. The Accounting Officers must decide whether the processes in place in their Departments, offices or bodies are appropriate to ensure compliance with the infrastructure guidelines; the management of capital budgets overall; and the management of budgets at an individual project level.

In terms of its capital allocation, my Department has not had significant direct overruns. We have a responsibility for overall oversight and we are responsible for the infrastructure guidelines that replaced the public spending code and were published in December 2023, with an effective date of 1 January 2024. These set out value for money guidance for evaluating, planning and managing Exchequer-funded capital projects. The management and delivery of these must be done in the context of the allocation and the national frameworks, which is a key responsibility of each Department and Minister.

As part of the capital appraisal process for projects under the infrastructure guidelines, projects' sponsoring agents are asked to critically consider the schedule and cost implications of those projects, which is further developed as a project progresses through the approval gates and more information becomes available, for example, when a project moves from the preliminary phase to final business case before the awarding of a contract. This includes detailed financial and economic appraisal, sensitivity analysis, accounting for behavioural influences such as optimism bias as well as consideration of appropriate levels of contingency. I will elaborate more on the governance framework.

See this speech in context