Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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173. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his capital spend review will include consideration of additional funding for investment in marine harbours and ports owned and managed by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22394/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Submissions in relation to the ongoing review of the Capital Plan and the additional funding available for allocation were sought from Departments in January and are currently being reviewed by my Department.  The Deputy will appreciate that it is a matter for each Department, in the first instance, to identify its sectoral priorities in its submission for additional funding under the review. In light of the constraints on the level of additional capital resources available for allocation under the review, the assessments and recommendations made by each Department in this respect will play an important role in ensuring that the additional funding is aligned with priorities in terms, for example, of overall economic and social returns from increased public capital investment.   

A public consultation process was also held 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, to enable the Government to make final decisions in due course on how the remaining additional capital funding should be allocated.