Although it is not a matter that excites a great deal of people, the success of the national development plan will affect the lives of everyone in this country over the years ahead. By any measure, it is a vast undertaking which involves the spending of about €65 billion over a seven year period. The vast bulk of that enormous sum is our own money, as only a small and dwindling proportion of it comes in the form of handouts from the EU. We should look carefully at how this money is spent because of its size alone, quite apart from its importance to our future.