Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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127. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of money that has been spent and drawn down to deliver projects in County Cork heretofore; if he is satisfied that public expenditure on the capital side is sufficient to meet demands and requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2163/23]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects, within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan (NDP), rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case. My Department therefore allocates expenditure on a departmental basis, not a geographic basis.

The NDP published in October 2021 provides a detailed and positive vision for Ireland out to 2030 and delivers total public investment of €165 billion over the period 2021-2030. The NDP establishes the Government’s over-arching investment framework and broad direction for investment priorities for this decade. The capital expenditure ceilings detailed in the NDP are cognisant of the overall capability of the construction sector to deliver on the NDP and of the appropriate share of National Income being devoted to infrastructure. The levels of capital spending in the NDP, at close to 5% of GNI*, are already among the highest in the EU and are close to the limit of the overall capability to deliver in the coming decade.

In 2023, over €12 billion will be made available from the Exchequer for investment in public capital projects, which will provide more schools, homes, hospitals and other pieces of vital infrastructure. This level of expenditure will be pivotal in consolidating the progress already made, and, most importantly, delivering the infrastructure to support our future climate, social and economic requirements.

The Government will continue to detail the delivery of the NDP at regular intervals into the future to allow for full transparency on the implementation of Project Ireland 2040. This will be achieved through regular updates of the Project Ireland 2040 capital investment tracker and map as well as the publication of annual reports and regional reports highlighting Project Ireland 2040 achievements and giving a detailed overview of the public investments which have been made throughout the country.

The capital investment tracker provides a composite update on the progress of all major investments with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million. The tracker includes a number of major projects directly related to Cork city and county. Accompanying the tracker, the myProjectIreland interactive map details projects across the country and provides details on specific projects by county, including smaller investments such as schools and social housing projects. Search facilities also allow citizens to view projects in their regional area, by city, by county or by eircode.

In addition, Regional Reports on the implementation of Project Ireland 2040 in the Southern Region have been published for 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The reports set out the regional projects and programmes, which are being planned and delivered in the Southern Region, including Cork, as part of the public investment detailed in Project Ireland 2040. While this document does not provide an exhaustive list of all public capital expenditure in the region, it does serve to highlight the diverse range of investments being made by the State under Project Ireland 2040, including in County Cork.

The Project Ireland 2040 Regional Reports, capital investment tracker and myProjectIreland interactive map are all available on gov.ie/2040.