Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Senator for raising an important issue for the successful delivery of State investment and ensuring maximum value for the taxpayer. It is important to have dialogue and engagement on something so key for Government delivery.

As I mentioned in my earlier remarks, this is not a static space and public bodies are continuously working to improve processes and frameworks to ensure value for money. The update of the code in 2019 was done in the context of many lessons learned here in Ireland, including the national children's hospital and also international guidance through a review of the investment framework by the International Monetary Fund. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform continues to work with colleagues from other Departments and agencies to refine the requirements of the overall public spending codes to produce sectoral guidance that is more applicable in specific areas. The appropriateness and proportionality that was adopted in the recent update of the public spending code means the process of projects of less than €100 million have been streamlined. It should lead to a speeding-up of project delivery.

I will bring this back to the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath. The crux of the Senator's Commencement matter today was about having the accountability and the cost-benefit analysis to know that the project has an impact on the general public when it is delivered.