Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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128. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which his Department has received communication from other Departments and bodies or agencies under its aegis seeking expenditure on such issues as upgrade of motorways, new roadworks, investment in water and other items of infrastructural importance; if he expects to be in a position to respond favourably to such requests in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40744/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my Department has received communications in respect of the Review of the Capital Plan and the 2018 Estimates. The Deputy will be aware that I published the Review of the Capital Plan on the 14th of September, and a copy of the report was made available to each Deputy on that day.

The Review draws on an evidence base that included detailed submissions by Departments and Offices, an extensive public consultation, as well as an Infrastructure Capacity and Demand Analysis completed by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. 

My Department has also published a range of supporting documentation, including Departmental submissions, which underpin the evidence base of the Review. Copies of the documentation can be found at www.per.gov.ie. 

Based on the analysis, the review of the Capital Plan has identified a number of key sectors as priorities for investment, including transport, education and housing. These findings provide a detailed evidence base which will assist Government in making decisions, in the context of the 2018 Estimates, on the allocation of the €4.1 billion of additional funding now available for allocation over the period 2018 to 2021. Reflecting this significant planned increase in public capital investment, between 2014 and 2021 public capital expenditure in Ireland will have more than doubled and as set out by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, this will result in public investment in Ireland moving to among the highest in the EU.

From a longer-term perspective, the review of the Capital Plan will also provide a significant input into the development of the proposed new 10 year National Investment Plan, to be published in conjunction with the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government’s new National Planning Framework (NPF) - the objectives of which are fundamental to the achievement of long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability.

I am satisfied that this new planned level of capital investment represents an appropriate balance between the need for additional investment, the capacity of the economy to deliver additional public infrastructure consistent with overall fiscal and macroeconomic sustainability and the need to adhere to the responsible spending path agreed by Government with reference to the requirements of the EU Fiscal Rules.