Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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12. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if there is long-term financial planning for capital infrastructure projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40182/25]

Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have met people working for State bodies involved in asset procurement for long-term infrastructure projects. One of the points they constantly raise is the lack of long-term financial planning and commitments on projects that take a long time to deliver, for example, ten years. They say that more certainty is needed and this would help improve the efficiency of delivering the projects and gain the commitment of suppliers to the projects. Can we move away from the short-term approach and put more emphasis on long-term financing and certainty?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The national development plan is the State's medium- to long-term plan for public capital investment. The current national development plan to 2030 provided for public capital investment of €165 billion over the period 2021 to 2030. Government is currently prioritising an early review of this plan, to be published this month, which will set out five-year departmental capital ceilings and additionality to 2030 and overall capital expenditure ceilings for the ten-year period to 2035.

The objective of the review is to improve our infrastructure, particularly housing, energy, water and transport. Improvements to these sectors are necessary to deliver on the core ambition for the review to fund the supporting infrastructure to enable the delivery of thousands of additional homes and to boost our competitiveness.

This reflects a planned and strategic approach to public capital investment over the next ten years. Planning and prioritisation of the funding will be guided by: the critical priorities for infrastructure investment highlighted in the programme for Government; the capacity of sectors to deliver projects and programmes within the period of the review, while being cognisant of trade-offs within and between sectors such as construction sector labour supply; the cost of proposals in the context of competing priorities and existing levels of capital funding; and the alignment of particular projects with the core focus on housing and competitiveness.

The revised national development plan will also form part of our broader structural plan and associated medium-term expenditure framework. The plan is being worked on by my Department and the Department of Finance and will reflect the strategic choices that will need to be made over the next five years in the context of tax and expenditure to ensure a balanced and sustainable fiscal outlook.

The medium-term expenditure framework being prepared by my Department will support the delivery of key social and economic priorities of Government for the period to 2030. Financial planning for capital projects also takes place at the individual project level. My Department, through the infrastructure guidelines, provides the framework through which Departments can plan.

Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I want to emphasise how spending on infrastructure is an investment, in that it gives a return. For example, I recently attended the opening of the new wastewater treatment plant in Arklow, County Wicklow, which cost €140 million and came in on budget. Much of that €140 million comes back to the State immediately through taxes. This plant has a capacity of 24,000 population equivalent with an expansion possibility to 36,000. This can cater for over 10,000 new houses. When these houses are built, the State will recoup much more than the €140 million investment. VAT on new houses, development levies, and the taxes and spending involved in construction will flow back to the State, before even valuing the environmental benefits.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is right. That was an excellent project delivered by Uisce Éireann. His original question connects back to the previous question that was asked. We understand the challenge Uisce Éireann has had each year in knowing its funding position the following year and the effect that has on contractors and their delivery pipelines. We are cognisant of that in the work we are doing as part of the national development plan. In the critical strategic sectors of infrastructure, we will give a longer view for contractors to give the confidence to build a pipeline and expand particular sectors within the economy. Part of what we are doing through the national development plan is to give greater certainty on the project pipeline for the likes of Uisce Éireann and others so they can plan for projects that will come on stream in the medium term. That has been an important part of the feedback we received through the consultation we had on infrastructure.

Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Regarding delivery, a new infrastructure division group has recently been established. For the current national development plan, a delivery board was set up in 2018. The national development plan envisages five or four - it is not clear - additional outside experts being added. It only meets every two to three months, which seems way too seldom. I wonder how successful it has been. Another body was set up in 2012, the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service, IGEES, which has taken on 150 analysts. By the way, this is all in the current national development plan. EY's report, entitled "Supporting Excellence", has many recommendations to help infrastructure delivery. All these groups appear worthy but I wonder if they have worked.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, for all the work done on flood relief programmes. The problem I have with them is the time it takes from start to finish. One, the Glanmire flood relief project, is being done in my constituency at the moment. It is nearing completion and was very well managed by the OPW. I am concerned about the one in Blackpool, which started in 2013 and, 12 years later, the most recent part has been signed off by the OPW but not by the Department. We have been waiting for more than 12 years. It is really important for that side of Cork city because very little development can take place until it is completed.

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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The Deputy has raised this in the committee and here in the House. As I said to him, a judicial review held up that whole scheme. We got consent and were ready to go, and then came the judicial review. Once it comes through the planning process, we will be on the ground. As I explained to the Deputy, I am working extremely hard to try to do this. He can play a part by going to talk to the people who bring these objections to see if we have done everything required so that, when it comes out, we are not faced with another objection and it is delayed again. It is unfair to say the OPW and my Department have not worked tirelessly to try to deliver this scheme. I know the pressure the Deputy is facing over the length of time it has taken. Once there is a judicial review, it holds up the entire planning process. He knows how long this has been going on and so do I. Let us see what happens in the next few weeks and then we can get working.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We will go to Question No.-----

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I might just come in also. The Minister of State, Deputy Moran, just dealt with one part. Part of the work we are doing is to try to accelerate and improve the project life cycle. Be they full schemes or road projects, they are taking far too long.

The Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, IGEES, is deployed across Government Departments, assessing and evaluating some of the policies that have been advanced by Government. It provides external assessment to inform policy decisions we take as part of the budget process. It plays an important role and is deployed across Government, led by my Department. The NDP delivery board has been changed through the accelerated infrastructure task force, which I have established. It has a different remit in the context of reform of infrastructure delivery in the economy and oversight of those reforms and broader infrastructure delivery from the projects and the plan we will set out next week.