Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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639. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to cost overruns on contracts within her Department with a value in excess of €10 million that came in more than 10% over budget in each of the years 2016 to 2018 and to date in 2019; if so, the details of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8422/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department has a project governance committee which oversees all projects. This is a sub-committee of the management board and is chaired by the Secretary General. The Department has a strong governance structure and each project reports into a programme board which is normally chaired by a programme sponsor at Assistant Secretary level. The programme board in turn reports in the project governance committee, which meets on a regular basis. The committee also holds an annual project conference where each project, existing or new, needs to apply for funding for the following year.

Through the Department’s governance process, project proposals and initiatives are approved and prioritised; budgets and resources are assigned and implementation monitored. This structure ensures a robust monitoring of projects and provides a mechanism for early identifications of any issues that are emerging.

My Department stayed within its overall project governance committee funding allocation in each of the years in question, no project overruns have been reported to me and I am satisfied that effective project governance structures are in place.