Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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341. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the public consultation process on supplementary information provided by his officials on a project (details supplied); and when he expects a decision in respect of the scheme. [37047/22]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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In October 2020, the Office of Public Works (OPW) submitted the Confirmation documentation for this scheme to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) for review. As part of this process, there are a number of statutory steps including public consultation and a request for further or supplementary information, if needed. Supplementary Information was subsequently sought by DPER and this was provided by OPW in July 2021.

In order to limit the risk of Judicial Review, DPER advised that a further Public Consultation, that included the supplementary information, would be appropriate. This Public Consultation process commenced on 6 May 2022 and ran until 1 July 2022. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will now consider the submissions made during this consultation and a decision, in respect of the scheme, will be made in due course. The Minister can decide to either: confirm the scheme, refuse the scheme or refer the scheme back to OPW for revision in specified aspects.

The OPW remain committed to this scheme and have allocated funding and a works team to progress the scheme subject to approval from DPER and the absence of any Judicial Reviews.