Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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73. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects his Department to be in a position to approve projects in the capital programme that are most likely to have immediate and positive impact by way of addressing infrastructural deficits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2598/18]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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74. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects to be in a position to approve capital expenditure in the health services with particular reference to the augmentation of the bed complement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2599/18]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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75. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects to be in a position to make strategic approvals in the capital programme to address requirements in the health services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2600/18]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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76. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects to be in a position to make strategic approvals in the capital programme to address infrastructural deficits in road and rail services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2601/18]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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77. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects to be in a position to address issues such as strategic road and bridge improvements in the capital programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2602/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 73 to 77, inclusive, together.

As I announced at Budget 2018, Government has allocated significant increases in public capital investment amounting to €4.3 billion over the period 2018-2021. This was in addition to the additional €2.2 billion for housing already allocated prior to that for the implementation of the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.  These funding allocations were, inter alia, intended to address bottlenecks and infrastructural deficits, informed and advised by the detailed analysis and assessment carried out in the context of the recent review of the 2015 capital plan Building on Recovery which I published in September.  

Consequently, 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 see public investment in Ireland moving to amongst the highest in the EU.

I am satisfied that this new planned level of public capital investment represents an appropriate balance between the need for additional investment to realise the economy's long-term growth potential, the capacity of the economy to deliver additional public infrastructure consistent with 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. 

Work is currently at an advanced stage by my Department in preparing a new long-term 10-year capital plan covering the period 2018-2027.  The primary objective of the new 10-year plan is to underpin the implementation of the new National Planning Framework for spatial policy under the Ireland 2040 Plan.  The assessment of priorities for public capital investment over that period will also be strongly informed by the detailed Infrastructure Capacity and Demand Analysis prepared by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES), as part of the recent review of the 2015 capital plan, which assessed key drivers of infrastructure demand in a number of areas such as housing, health, transport and education.  The Infrastructure Capacity and Demand analysis was published alongside the review of the current capital plan and is available on my Department's website. 

I would hope that the new 10-year capital plan will be considered by Government in the near future, with decisions on capital allocations in support of the various sectoral investment plans then being made in due course.  I should point out, however, that responsibility for the selection and approval of individual infrastructure project proposals to be progressed in each sector, such as road or rail projects in transport or hospital capacity increases in health, are a matter in the first instance for the relevant sectoral Minister and his or her Department - subject to compliance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code in relation to planning, assessment and appraisal of project proposals in the normal way - rather than for my Department.