Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

They are separate. Some Senators have discussed matters that are not relevant to this legislation. They are separate. The capital plan part - the expenditure of €116 billion, and probably a few more billion on top of it - is led by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I ask Senators to trust me when I say that Department spends its money wisely. It adheres to all the codes and procedures. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the officials in the Department are very careful in what they do with taxpayers' money. They spend it wisely. They go through all the procedures. The Department does not spend money willy-nilly. There is no political influence. That is not what the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform does. It is very clear on these issues.

The planning framework sets out where we are going from a planning point of view over a period of 20 to 25 years. The capital plan funds some of the infrastructure to go with that. It funds some other things as well. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is in charge of the capital money. That money goes through the budgetary process here every year, just like every other euro of taxpayers' money that is spent. I ask Senators not to try to insinuate that there is political inference in this process, because that is not the case. All the proper codes are observed. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, is very clear on that. As he has outlined, there are other projects he might have wanted to include but he could not do so because they had not gone through all the procedures. I ask Senators to separate Project 2040 and the national planning framework because they are not the same. Project 2040 is the document that brings the two together for discussion. There was a launch and so on. Senators are very upset about the launch, but I think it is time for them to get over that, to be honest.