Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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6. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which he plans to address delays in delivering capital projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59855/25]

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister outline some of his plans to address the significant delays in delivering capital projects in the country?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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In line with the commitments made in the programme for Government, a new infrastructure division has been established within my Department. Led by a deputy secretary general, this division is focused on how the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State can be accelerated. It comprises a blend of experienced civil servants and sectoral experts with direct experience in infrastructure delivery, many of whom have been redeployed into my Department from key State agencies.

The work of the infrastructure division is supported by the accelerating infrastructure task force, which I chair. This includes six independent experts with extensive infrastructure delivery experience, alongside six ex officio members drawn from commercial State bodies at the forefront of infrastructure development, as well as representatives from the local government sector.

The new division has recently undertaken a major exercise to systematically identify the most important barriers impeding the timely delivery of capital projects. As part of this work plan, officials met with over 50 key stakeholders involved in the development of infrastructure in our country and received nearly 170 formal responses to a public consultation exercise that was conducted in parallel. This was complemented by engagement events, including a session at the National Economic Dialogue and a regional event in Athlone in June.

Based on this consultation and research, we published the report on the emerging themes on the barriers to infrastructure in July. The report identified 12 key barriers to the timely delivery of infrastructure, spanning the regulatory environment, planning and legal frameworks, and internal government systems. It highlights the urgent need for infrastructure delivery systems that are fit for purpose, efficient and economically viable.

The infrastructure division, in close collaboration with the task force, is now preparing the final report and an action plan to address these barriers. I will present this report to Government in the coming weeks. It will outline a series of targeted, high-impact reforms designed to address all the identified barriers and to deliver critical infrastructure more quickly across the economy with a clear focus on reducing timelines and improving outcomes.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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They say every day is a learning day. Recently, I was back in University Hospital Limerick with other politicians looking at a new ward system, a new 96-bed block, a five-storey building. Angela Coll of the Ennis hospital committee was recently in the Minister's office, where the three of us had a good discussion. When I spoke to clinicians that day, they were delighted with this five-storey building and the 96-bed block. However, they made the point that another one is needed and probably even three. I made the point that we should build up and instead of going to five stories, go to ten or 12 storeys. I wrongly believed that there was some planning barrier to this. They told me it was because of the €200 million spending cap. That is just ludicrous because it becomes more costly to go back and build a new one and another one. I take some hope and solace from the fact that the Minister has not finalised his plans yet. When it comes to healthcare, particularly in the mid-west region where there is a healthcare apartheid, I appeal to the Minister to raise the cap so that when we are building a new block, we go higher, we go bigger and we build as many wards with as many beds as we need, not just as many as we can afford to do at that particular time.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I know the critical need to deliver more beds in the mid-west region. Following the HIQA report, it is important that we do that in the context of the new allocation to the Department of Health and as part of the national development plan. I agree with much of what the Deputy has said. The guidelines, as they are, are probably too conservative and there is a need for reform.

That is why we want to go higher, bigger and quicker when it comes to infrastructure and planning for it, be it in the context of bed capacity, social infrastructure or critical economic infrastructure. Rebalancing regulation and removing some of the barriers, steps and internal systems will all be part of the report. These are practical steps that narrow timelines but also rebalance risk. Increasing the risk appetite is critical if we want to deliver more social and economic infrastructure. It is a matter of backing public servants to make the decisions and get on with doing what we know is required, be it in terms of healthcare infrastructure or water, energy, transport and housing infrastructure across our economy.

There are too many constraints that promote a culture of risk aversion. Risk aversion permeates the system, and that is why we have long lists and not delivery now. Part of what we are doing in our infrastructure reforms is cutting a lot of that out, addressing and reforming internal systems and really focusing on delivery. We will be able to set out the detail and the timelines that will shorten as a result of the changes we are going to make.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The whole system is very impractical. When you want to build a new 96-bed block, it is not just foundations you are building; you are digging down, tanking out a whole basement floor and then going up five or six storeys. The upper floor must be load-bearing, so it can take more units and wards if required. All the services, including sewerage, water and electricity services, are then introduced but then you have to stop because the ceiling is reached. That is totally impractical. It does not meet patient needs and is not achieving the value we should obtain from public expenditure. One has to go all the way through the planning process again and build another block. From public healthcare and public spending points of view, we need to deal with this.

I spoke to an official in the Department recently and he told me that back in the recessionary years, gateways were introduced. It was a way of slowing down projects without killing them off. Let us take out the gateways for all the public projects. There should be only three or four stages from conception and planning to funding and, eventually, building. We do not need additional gateways involving analysing and re-analysing. What these inevitably do is raise the cost, and that is the last thing we want.

I thank the Minister for his engagement. I have faith in him. He is going make proposals in the coming weeks but they need to be practical ones that address this matter.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I agree the proposals need to be practical, quick and make an impact on the wider delivery of economic and social infrastructure. The guidelines the Deputy referred to, which have multiple gateways, need to be reformed and changed. There is too much circular analysis, which in many instances does not add value and adds time. That is why there is going to be change. Some of the reforms we will be introducing will be practical steps that will reduce the time and help deliver infrastructure better.

The Deputy is correct that when developing a site, there should be better intensification and use of it, particularly if it is a hospital site that has only a limited amount of land available and potential future needs. We will be able to detail actions that will make a genuine difference and practical steps we can control within internal systems in government and the State, and then ensure we promote reform. Reform is as important as the allocations around expenditure policy. The obsession in this House is often who gets what and how much. Reform is the most important aspect of resolving issues with infrastructure delivery and rebalancing excessive regulation that is not adding value and is holding back growth. That is what I intend to do.