Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I recognise significant work has been done in this area. We are about to embark on the national development plan. The current plan involves €165 billion and there will be additionality on that, which is very welcome. We will be spending significant money on water infrastructure, energy, transport, health, housing and more. It is important we rebuild public trust in our management of large-scale capital projects. Unfortunately, we have seen too many examples - the national children's hospital, the Dublin Port tunnel, the national broadband plan and so on - of significant overruns. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has commented on this.

I welcome the work of the Minister and his Department. It is critical we have robust processes in place to ensure proper cost analysis and forecasting, rigorous risk assessment and a sound legal basis for contracts, so we reduce the risk of budget overruns and projects not coming in on time and so we can rebuild public trust, which is badly needed.

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