Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising timely and important issue. It is worth reflecting on the level of capital investment we are seeing. Since 2019, through the national development plan, we have delivered 170 km of new roads, including the New Ross bypass, the Dunkettle interchange, the Moycullen bypass, the N22 Macroom road and the N5 Westport-Turlough road. We have delivered active travel infrastructure throughout the country of 660 km walking infrastructure, 400 km of cycling infrastructure and 220 km of greenways. There have been almost 53,000 new local authority schemes since 2021, 110,000 premises connected to high-speed broadband as a result of the national broadband plan, 330 premises with an available connection and a new city campus for TU Dublin in Grangegorman. Approximately 800 school building projects have been completed since 2020 with a further 300 under construction along with the first phase of the new national rehabilitation hospital and new ward blocks. I make that point to set a context because the Deputy is right.

We are about to enter a new phase and we have to put ourselves under pressure with regard to the speed, pace and value for money of delivery. We do it from a relatively strong foundation because of the scaling up we have been able to do in delivering capital projects in recent years.

We are about to enter a new phase because the Minister, Deputy Chambers, will shortly carry out the review of the national development plan, which will see an unprecedented level of capital investment. While that is great, our voters and the citizens of this country will want to know whether we got value for money, delivered projects in a timely manner and managed to break down the silos and bureaucracy. That is why, in advance of the national development plan in July, we are putting a big focus on trying to get the structures right.

As the Deputy knows, the new programme for Government has made a number of commitments around infrastructure delivery, crucially looking at how Departments and agencies can work better together. We are working with stakeholders to advise on strategic project selection and expediting the delivery of project assessments. Crucially, the most important thing is the reform taking place in the Department of public expenditure and reform. It now has a newly established infrastructure division led by a deputy secretary general and staffed by a combination of experienced civil servants and sectoral experts redeployed from key State agencies, including the ESB, EirGrid, Uisce Éireann, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and An Bord Pleanála. Government efficiency, value for money and that common-sense approach will be hallmarks of this division within the Department. The Minister and the whole Government are determined in that regard.

In the coming months, we have tasked the infrastructure division to engage with key stakeholders to identify and propose solutions to barriers they see in delivery; to carry out a public consultation on barriers to infrastructure delivery, which is due to commence in the coming days; to carry out a review, as the Deputy rightly called for, of international best practice and international delivery, including looking at what happens in other comparable European countries; and to produce a report on barriers to critical infrastructure delivery, which is also due to come back to Government in July. Getting these building blocks right will serve us well as we ramp up capital in the weeks and months ahead.

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