Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 118: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he is satisfied that there is a strong pipeline of bankable projects under the national development plan on which robust value for money appraisal has been carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23596/07]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 171: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will outline and publish an appraisal of individual national development plan capital projects in terms of project selection and roll out. [23407/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 171 together.

The Capital Appraisal Guidelines of February 2005 as amended by the Value for Money (VFM) circular of February 2006 provide for a comprehensive system of project selection, appraisal and management. All capital projects are subject to project appraisal, with the nature and extent of the appraisal being related to the type and value of the particular project. The responsibility for undertaking such appraisals rests in the first instance with the individual Departments and Agencies. The primary purpose of the guidelines is to reinforce the need for rigorous appraisal of projects at all stages including selection stage.

Each Department is also required to put in place a system to carry out spot-checks of projects so as to ensure compliance with the VFM frameworks, and the findings of these spot-checks are reported annually to my Department. These spot-checks should examine a number of issues, including whether the appropriate form of appraisal has been properly applied to projects. The spot check reports submitted to my Department are reviewed by the Central Expenditure Evaluation Unit, which may also undertake its own spot checks of individual capital projects to verify compliance with the requirements of the VFM framework.

The individual National Development Plan capital projects are subject to the standard appraisal rules in the normal way. While the handling of these appraisals is a matter for each relevant Department and Agency, it has not been the practice to publish such analyses. The appraisals are generally prepared to facilitate and inform the internal decision making process and as such they would contain commercially sensitive information, the publication of which could be prejudicial to the State's capacity to get best value for money in procurement of capital projects. For example, appraisals would include the estimates of the capital and operating costs of projects, information which it would be inappropriate to share with potential tenderers in advance of procurement.

While the NDP itself was launched by the Government in January of this year, the roll out of projects under the Plan has been making satisfactory progress to date, and I anticipate that there will be continued strong delivery into the future. Indeed, a strong monitoring and reporting framework has been provided for in the NDP from the outset, with a view to maintaining the focus on delivery and value for money. The NDP monitoring process includes the establishment of a Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) whose membership includes all the relevant Government Departments, the Regional Assemblies and Regional Authorities, the Social Partners and bodies representing environmental interests. The first meeting of the CMC will be in November. A detailed reporting system based on a focused monitoring template has been developed. This template will facilitate the monitoring of Sub-Programmes in terms of financial and physical outputs and impacts including by reference to the horizontal objectives of the NDP in relation to balanced regional development, all-island co-operation, development of the rural economy and environmental sustainability.

All implementing Departments will report on the implementation of Sub-Programmes they are responsible for early in the New Year. These reports will be considered by the CMC. They will also feed into the annual report on NDP progress that will be submitted to the Oireachtas.