Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

100. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the plans he is putting in place to increase capacity in relation to a recent report by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, which highlighted concerns that capacity issues were likely to stymie efforts to hit to the current capital expenditure targets. [31884/21]

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My next question follows on from the first. To address a point that the Minister made, if I asked a question about tax, it would have been transferred to the Minister for Finance. If we accept that capital expenditure should increase not just for housing but infrastructure more generally, then the question is about how we get there. A recent IFAC report highlighted concerns about capacity and how this could stymie efforts to meet the existing capital expenditure targets before we even think of increasing them further. What plans is the Minister putting in place not just to meet the existing targets but the more ambitious ones?

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. A key focus of the review of the national development plan, NDP, is on the capability and capacity of the public service to deliver the ambitious targets for investment that are set out in the plan. Building on recent reforms such as the update of the public spending code, this Government has initiated a suite of reforms to strengthen the assurance arrangements and public sector capability to deliver the NDP. The phase 1 report of the NDP review published by my Department in April includes an analysis of public sector capacity constraints in investment delivery. The analysis notes that even when functioning at maximum efficiency, the public sector has the capacity to deliver a limited amount of investment in any given year regardless of how much funding is made available. All investment typically requires administration, appraisal, planning, design, procurement, etc. All of these processes take time and expertise. Delivery capacity is relatively fixed in the short term, which naturally limits the ability to ramp up public investment in the short term.

It is possible to develop and step-up the capacity of the public sector over the medium term through reallocation of resources, training, upskilling, knowledge-sharing and recruitment of additional staff and expertise to build delivery capacity. That is where my focus will be in the review of the national development plan. Money is not always the key constraint. It is the ability to get things done and to deliver projects through what can be a cumbersome and slow progress. We are bringing in a range of reforms. A range of measures are in train to increase public sector delivery capacity over the medium term, including the establishment of a commercial skills academy, the public infrastructure network, the expansion of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, an EU-funded independent report on the capacity of the public sector to deliver capital projects, and a range of reforms of planning, including the establishment of a new planning and environmental court. I have announced a number of reforms to enhance the external assurance in respect of the delivery of major capital projects to make sure that we get it right and deliver value for taxpayers' money.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We are all on the same page. We want these capital projects to happen. The Minister mentioned external expertise to try to deliver this. I am aware that he will hire additional external expertise for the Project Ireland 2040 delivery board. Those will be additional members if I am not mistaken. I am aware that he is establishing a framework of external specialists and infrastructure delivery to assist with a major project advisory group. The Minister says that this is to avoid the pitfalls which have arisen in the past and delayed project delivery. We know that there have been significant delays in the past on capital projects and we simply cannot afford this. The Minister has been reported in the media as casting doubt that we will reach our capital targets this year. That would have a knock-on effect on subsequent years. Is the Minister confident that we will be able to deliver these? We need large-scale capital investment to get us out of this economically and to rebuild the infrastructure in respect of which we have lagged behind for so long.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I agree that the focus needs to be on delivery. To be fair to the public sector, the independent report funded by the European Commission found many examples of excellence. It found many examples of the wider public sector having the capacity to deliver major capital projects. That includes Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which has a good track record of delivering road projects and public transport projects. The NTA, Irish Water, the OPW, the HSE and larger local authorities also have good records. It also identified gaps and where we can do better. That is why I am introducing what I believe are the most ambitious reforms in the delivery of our capital investment programme, by adding external members to the Project Ireland 2040 delivery board and setting up a major projects advisory group to advise me and my Department on the progression of different projects. I am introducing a panel of external experts that will assist line Departments to bring projects through various stages of the development life cycle.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A recommendation in my party's submission on the recovery and resilience plan was to allocate some of the money towards what I would call capital catch-up. These would be one-off spending measures to help us to get back on track to reach existing targets. That is before we look at potentially increased targets. I am aware, as the Minister mentioned, that the Government's housing commitments have been outlined in other places but I have not seen that in the recovery and resilience plan. It is crucial that we reach these targets. Over the last decade, this Government and that which preceded it, which the Minister's party supported, failed to hit the lower targets. What confidence can we have that we will hit the higher targets, especially given that we are already playing catch-up? This is essential for people's lives and we cannot leave people forgotten again.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There will be an impact from the shutdown of the construction sector for the first four months of the year. That has impacted on the delivery of projects and spending so some timelines will be impacted. In the last crisis, capital investment was cut by about 60% from peak to trough. We are maintaining and building on an elevated level of capital expenditure. We believe that it will be at the heart of the recovery of the Irish economy. I am working closely with all of my colleagues across Government on the roll-out of their capital investment projects. We have introduced some enhanced reporting requirements where all of Cabinet will be provided with information on capital investment progress across key spending Departments, which is important. I am confident that this Government will deliver on the ambitions in the national development plan and the new national development plan which will be agreed. That will underline the priority that this Government attaches to capital investment. We are playing catch-up and investing in our critical infrastructure is the right thing to do. I have to make sure that it is done as efficiently as possible and that we get value for taxpayers' money.