Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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15. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which counties Kildare and Laois will benefit from the national development plan, particularly in view of the overspend on the national children's hospital; the timelines for these benefits to be put into effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46782/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level.  Responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects, within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan (NDP), rests with individual sponsoring Departments.

Under the umbrella of Project Ireland 2040, the Government has allocated capital funding for the national priorities set out in the National Planning Framework (NPF).  The three Regional Assemblies are responsible for co-ordinating, promoting and supporting the strategic planning and sustainable development of their regions, by formulating Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSES).  The strategy for the Eastern and Midland Region provides the opportunity for the priorities for Kildare and Laois, such as the priorities included in the existing County Development Plans, to be integrated into a regional investment plan which will be a major driver of the implementation of the NPF.

Regional reports on both the Midlands and Mid-East have been published on the Project Ireland 2040 website.  The reports detail the specific regional projects and programmes which are being planned and delivered in the regions as part of the public investment detailed in Project Ireland 2040, the NPF and the NDP.

I might also add that my Department publishes a major capital projects tracker, which sets out details of the key projects and programmes being implemented under the NDP.  While the Tracker focuses mainly on projects with estimated costs greater than €20 million, it nevertheless provides a composite update on the progress of all the major investments that make up Project Ireland 2040.   It aids industry by communicating opportunities for investment and also provide an important communications channel for all citizens in relation to Project Ireland 2040 investments taking place throughout the country.  An updated version of the tracker will be published in the coming weeks.

A further innovation in 2019 was the development of MyProjectIreland, a new citizen-focused interactive map which allows the user to navigate public investment projects across the country and find out what is happening in their own area.  It includes information on expected completion dates and the status of projects.