Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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184. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if a review of priorities in relation to the capital plan, building on recovery, will be considered in the context of the all-island civic dialogue on Brexit with particular reference to the needs of the Border region due to the particular challenges that will arise following Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12613/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Capital Plan "Building on Recovery", sets out a €42 billion framework to address our priority infrastructure needs up to 2021. This plan is being reviewed to ensure that capital spending continues to be strictly aligned with national economic and social priorities, consistent with Programme for Partnership Government objectives. This includes examining how the additional €5 billion in capital funding committed by Government over the period 2018 to 2021 can best be allocated to address priority needs and underpin sustainable medium-term economic growth and future growth potential. 

My Department wrote to all Departments in January initiating the review process and seeking submissions, including proposals for any of the additional capital funding available, by the end of February.  These submissions are now being received from Departments.  A public consultation will also be undertaken to inform the Review. 

I understand from my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, that the inaugural plenary meeting of the All-Island Civic Dialogue took place on 2 November 2016.  As a direct follow-up to this, to reflect on the main issues raised, the Government organised a series of fourteen sector-specific events which have been hosted by Ministers in a range of locations across the country. A number of those events were held in border areas. The second plenary meeting of the All-Island Civic Dialogue, which took place on 17 February 2017, brought together the work from the sectoral dialogue meetings and discussed further the preparations for Ireland's response to Brexit.  A report bringing together the key themes of the sectoral dialogues, along with more information about the individual events and the two plenary sessions, is available on merrionstreet.ie and may be of interest to the Deputy.  

The Civic Dialogue has proven useful for informing preparations for negotiations, and outputs from all sixteen Dialogue events so far have been fed directly to the Cabinet Committee on Brexit, chaired by the Taoiseach. The meetings have been valuable opportunities for Ministers to engage directly with stakeholders on the implications of the Brexit process for their sector. Over 1100 industry and civic society representatives have participated in the meetings and many compelling and constructive discussions have been held around the implications for the border regions.  The Civic Dialogue will continue to inform the process ahead and the Government is considering the best way through which to continue the discussions.

The Deputy will appreciate that the review of the Capital Plan, provides each Department with the opportunity to assess its sectoral capital investment plan in the light of key factors such as Brexit and propose any consequent reprioritisation of resources as part of their submission under the review.  This will help ensure that the allocation of the additional capital resources is informed and guided - in an evidence-based way - by key capital investment requirements reflecting Brexit-related factors, including those arising from the work of the All Island Dialogue.