Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators for their contributions and their ongoing engagement on the national development plan today. Some important issues were raised and I welcome the opportunity to clarify and elaborate on them.

As stated earlier, my Department has been renamed to give an additional focus to the delivery of the NDP and to assist Departments in delivering on their much-needed priority projects. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and I are looking at all the policy levers and supporting structures at our disposal which could support the delivery of critical projects as well as working with colleagues across Government to remove any potential barriers impacting on delivery. This work will likely focus on how projects are approved and appraised by the Government and Departments, the public procurement procedures required to comply with EU regulations under my own remit, identifying capacity and capability gaps across the public sector and working to bridge these gaps. This is the major change. The Department was called the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, or DPER for short, and it now has NDP delivery. Therefore, it now has a focus on ensuring the projects happen rather than independently standing back, appraising them and telling the other Departments that it was their problem if their project did not proceed.

There are three aspects to ensuring we get momentum in the delivery of the NDP. Ensuring value for money for the taxpayer remains a key priority for my Department while still supporting project delivery. Regarding the appraisal of the most expensive and risky major projects, external scrutiny will still be required through the application of the external assurance process and an assessment of the major projects advisory group prior to a Government decision. These steps are essential in ensuring rigour in project development.

In addition to focusing on public sector delivery capability, my Department will continue to work closely with the construction sector through the construction sector group to improve productivity and delivery capacity. Important initiatives have been launched and supported through the construction sector group in recent years, including the Build Digital project to digitise the sector, Construct Innovate to provide cutting edge research and the Demonstration Park for Modern Methods to showcase innovative building techniques. I regularly meet representatives of the Construction Industry Federation to ensure enough people are being trained. The Government is aware of problems in the construction sector and is in touch with the real world on why projects are slowing or what problems there may be, for example, to do with procurement or inflation problems.

This is a whole-of-government plan and one which will require ongoing investment beyond the lifetime of the NDP. I want to acknowledge the high levels of engagement and commitment in the development of this NDP across all capital departments.

I want to turn to some of the Senators' specific questions. I also thank the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, who has now replaced the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath. I will be meeting him regularly and working with him to ensure we make progress. A number of Senators spoke about investment in childcare. The Government has clearly done a lot for childcare and has focused on that. The 25% reduction in cost is huge. Bringing in a minimum wage for childcare professionals for the first time is significant and will attract more people in. We now also have supports to ensure that childcare providers continue to be viable. The three areas of focus are: supporting employees; supporting childcare providers; and supporting parents.

As Senators have pointed out, it is not all about price and cost, but also simply availability. In many cases childcare facilities have shut down in the past or none are available in an area, particularly in a growing area. This is a serious problem which I am well aware of through direct campaigning and talking to people in my constituency. There is a need for continued investment in the childcare sector. Senators referred to the specific problems in their own areas and it is valuable to do that. I am always willing to engage on that. I will talk to my colleague the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, about his capital needs and we will be looking at those in the upcoming budget.

Senator Currie raised her concerns about the delivery of community centres and community infrastructure. She felt that it was easier to obtain renovation grants for buildings in a rural area than in an urban village location.Although she is aware that there are many different forums, like the URDF, rural regeneration, the town and village renewal scheme and Croí Cónaithe, in practice, she was having difficulty finding money to renovate a community centre in Dublin 15 because it is located in an urban village area rather than a rural one. It is possible that just transition funds may help with that. Again, I am always happy to engage with any Senator who has a specific problem.

Senator Dolan pointed out that the evidence of the infrastructure-building that has been going on is before our eyes. It is true. You look around and see greenways, bridges and activity everywhere. In my constituency, I see huge numbers of building projects going on, which were often opposed by other public representatives.

Senator Carrigy expressed how he is frustrated with the length of time it takes for the emerging preferred route to be selected. He pointed out that there is a single carriageway leading to one whole region of the country. He feels there have been many fatalities on the road and that there is a very good case for improvement there. The Senator's feeling is that the emphasis is not fair and that other areas of the country are getting their projects funded before his area in the north west. I am happy to talk to him about that if he feels there is unfairness. He is saying there is a kind of bottleneck, that there have been investments in the road on either side but in the centre there is an area that is not getting the funding it needs because it is taking so long to choose the routes. I am happy to work with the Senator on that.

We believe the investment strategy we have laid out in the NDP is going to have a transformative impact on the future of our employment opportunities and regional growth and that it is going to deliver the infrastructure requirements for a growing population. We have been growing at least 1% a year for a long time. We are sustaining wages and jobs. We need to modernise our construction sector and we need to allow for regionally balanced growth across the country. I assure the Seanad that this NDP is being delivered, and that it will deliver tangible and visible outputs while providing value for money. These high levels of investment will produce outcomes to support a growing economy and a higher living standard for those living here.