Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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61. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to improve the quality of infrastructure in the west of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5052/25]

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Tá sé feicthe againn le coicís anois cé chomh dona is atá an buninfreastuchtúr san iarthar agus i leithéidí Chonamara. We have seen the lack of good quality infrastructure across the west, and particularly in Connemara, over the past two weeks. The Minister has responsibility for infrastructure. What are his plans are to improve the quality of infrastructure in the west?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for public expenditure, I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at departmental level. Responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects or sectoral policy strategies, within the allocations agreed under the national development plan, NDP, rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case. Each Minister is also responsible for deciding on the priority programmes and projects, which they can bring to Government. That will be delivered under their remit within the national development plan and for setting out the timelines for delivery. Expenditure is, therefore, allocated and monitored on a departmental basis.

In budget 2025, almost €15 billion was made available from the Exchequer for investment in public capital projects, along with €3 billion in funds from the sale of the State's shareholding in AIB in June 2024. This level of expenditure is pivotal in consolidating the progress already made and in supporting balanced regional development to address key infrastructural bottlenecks more rapidly, and lead to further improvements in living standards and competitiveness.

Additionally, the recently agreed programme for Government sets out that the Government will prioritise an early review of the NDP, which will be completed in July 2025. The review of this will encompass all public capital investment and will utilise State funds to support increased capital investment levels, including in the west which is centrally important to overall infrastructure development.

This review will build on recent actions to improve delivery, including the publication of infrastructure guidance which replaced the public spending code on 1 January 2024. These set the value-for-money guidance for evaluating, planning and managing Exchequer-funded capital projects. It is a significant policy development that allows Departments greater freedom to pursue the delivery of their priority projects. It is also intended to ensure quality delivery can be achieved by agencies without causing undue delays which may impact on projects costs and timelines.

I have information on the north west and the west in terms of overall data on infrastructure to which I can return in my next contribution.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Mar gheall go raibh an tAire ina Aire Stáit le freagracht as an nGaeltacht, tá a fhios agam go dtuigeann sé go maith an easpa infreastruchtúir atá i gConamara. I know, from the Deputy Chambers' time as Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, he travelled around the Gaeltacht areas. He travelled extensively around Connemara. That gives the Minister good insight as to the real issues in terms of that basic infrastructure piece in Connemara.

People have now been almost two weeks without access to telecommunications. They are being told that they do not even have a date as to when their broadband and telephone lines will be restored. That is ridiculous. This is not the first time it has happened. It also happened in November. It happened for two to three weeks in parts of Connemara as well.

What I want to see, and what I hope the Minister will take seriously - I think he will - is investment in buninfreastuchtúr or basic infrastructure, that is, the telephone poles, the masts, etc. Serious investment is needed. It will take a long time. Such investment will give rise to a longer term gain, but we need to have a plan in place. Will the Minister he be putting a plan in place for that?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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From my previous role as Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, I am aware of the absolute need for infrastructure development to unlock economic development in the Gaeltacht region in the context of jobs, etc. I am aware of the difficulties that have been experienced by many residents as a result of the recent storm and, indeed, other storms during the winter period.

There has been ongoing engagement across Government on the consequences and on how some of the communications networks collapsed or were seriously impacted upon. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, has been engaging on that matter. Separately, we are aware of the need to ensure that there is greater resilience across the infrastructure network from an energy perspective - the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is co-ordinating in that regard - and our communications networks. Building greater resilience among communications and emergency networks is central for the future, particularly in light of emerging and changing weather patterns. We must also ensure that we have continued investment in the road and public transport networks. This will be the subject of a new ambition and focus on the part of Government in the context of the NDP review and the need to give an uplift to investment for the west and the north west.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister. The review of the NDP is something I will contribute to.

I hear what the Minister is saying. We need investment in roads. We need investment in public transport as well across the areas in question. When I am talking about basic infrastructure, I mean those 38 KV lines and the lines that run directly into people's homes. Everything is crumbling. If the Minister travels across Connemara, he will see poles split in half. From when the original damage happened in November, there are still lines lying across the ground that have not been fixed. There is a massive amount of work that needs to be done, specifically in respect of simple things such as replacing or repairing poles. There are things that we need to look at.

With the weather changing, things will become increasingly difficult. During Storm Darragh, what happened was that some of the poles fell and some of the wires fell also. It was just a little bit of snow. It was not a horrendous amount, but it managed to stop all telecommunications for a two-week period. Can the Minister, who sits at Cabinet, prioritise ensuring that there is an investigation into why the 999 call system was not working and that this does not happen again?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. As already stated, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is engaging directly in respect of communications infrastructure and on the need to ensure greater resilience in our communications networks. That is something that is being pursued. Similarly, when it comes to our energy infrastructure, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is directly engaging with the semi-State agencies and the regulators in order that we can build greater resilience into that infrastructure.

I am aware that concerns have been raised with TETRA Ireland. The particular consequences there were most acute in the direct aftermath of the storm. Officials in my Department have been engaging on that. I can send the Deputy a note on that specific matter. How that particular communications infrastructure was affected during the storm is a matter of concern to many people in the west and north west, particularly as certain people were put at risk. I acknowledge that this needs to be corrected for the future.