Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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24. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will consider the request from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to grant moneys in order to extend the LIHAF, local infrastructure housing activation fund scheme for projects which were not allocated funding under the recently announced projects in view of the demand for a scheme in Mullingar, County Westmeath, when the review of the Capital Plan 2016-2021 is being carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18703/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, housing is a key priority for this Government as stated in the Programme for a Partnership Government and as is evident from the decision to allocate in advance of the capital review an additional €2.2b to fund the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness "Rebuilding Ireland". This amounts to 40% of the available additional capital investment to 2021.

The establishment of the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund was also a commitment under the Programme for a Partnership Government. My government colleague Minister Coveney and I recently announced the approval of 34 projects to avail of the funds across 15 Local Authority areas, including Westmeath, with an estimated cost of €226.5m from 2018 2021. These projects are expected to support delivery of an additional 23,000 private housing units by 2021.

In relation to the review of the Capital Plan, a very clear process has been put in place in order to ensure that capital spending is fully aligned with national economic and social priorities, consistent with Programme for Partnership Government objectives. A submission in relation to the review and the additional funding available has been received from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and is currently being reviewed by my Department.

A public consultation process has also commenced, to ascertain the views of the public and key stakeholders on what our national infrastructure priorities should be and to seek views on infrastructure investment priorities beyond the period of the current Capital Plan, which will help formulate a longer term Capital Plan for the next 10 years.

My Department's assessment of the submissions received on the Capital Review will be based on, for example, updated analysis of infrastructure capacity and demand as well as the new National Planning Framework due to be published later this year in order to ensure that the additional capital resources are targeted on priority public capital infrastructure required to support Ireland's medium-term growth potential and underpin social cohesion.

It is expected that the review process will be completed in Quarter 3 of 2017, in time to enable the Government to make final decisions in due course on how the remaining additional capital funding should be allocated.