Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 220: To ask the Minister for Finance if a list is available of the number of direct and indirect jobs that would be created as a result of each capital project under the national development plan from the construction of the project itself and the potential jobs generated once the project is completed. [12261/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Information is not collated centrally on a routine basis on the number of direct and indirect jobs that would be created as a result of each capital project under the National Development Plan.

However, my Department has recently completed an exercise on the labour intensity of infrastructure investment more broadly. This exercise found that, with a few exceptions, the labour intensity of capital projects falls within a range of 8-12 direct jobs created per €1m expenditure. It also found that "minor" works tend to be more labour intensive in terms of direct jobs created than major new build projects. Both of these findings would be broadly supported by the academic studies that were consulted as part of the exercise conducted by my Department.

Of course, as well as taking account of the impact on employment, any decisions in relation to capital investment will also consider the extent to which that investment enhances the productive capacity of the economy and generates economic returns over the longer term.