Written answers
Thursday, 11 May 2023
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
National Development Plan
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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135. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he continues to monitor issues such as public procurement and-or the removal of any other administrative obstructions that might hinder the progress of the National Development Plan; the areas he has identified as central in such issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22333/23]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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136. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform those areas of the National Development Plan that have been most successful in achieving their targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22334/23]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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137. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he continues to identify those sectors within the National Development Plan which he sees as being most crucial to achieving its targets in early date; the action taken or pending to expedite various processes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22335/23]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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138. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has identified areas where the National Development Plan needs to be expedited with consequential benefit to the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22336/23]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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140. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he and his Department have identified issues relating to the National Development Plan, with the propensity to accelerate the plan or impede it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22338/23]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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143. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent of any reforms he might introduce to expedite the delivery of the National Development Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22341/23]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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144. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will identify the most urgently required changes in the delivery of services likely to be needed in the event of an improved performance in the implementation of the NDP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22342/23]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 135, 136, 137, 138, 140, 143 and 144 together.
As Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments. Management and delivery of individual investment projects within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan (NDP) are key responsibilities of every Department and Minister.
The NDP delivers total public investment of €165 billion over the period 2021-2030. The renaming and reconstitution of my Department, to specifically include NDP Delivery, brings about a greater emphasis and mandate for the delivery of the NDP. In light of this new role, a review of the support structures and levers available across Government to maximise delivery of projects was undertaken. As a result, a series of actions and reforms were identified as priorities to improve delivery of NDP projects. I secured Government approval in March for six priority actions which are:
- Significant changes to reduce the administrative burden in delivering major capital projects;
- I am now taking a direct role in overseeing delivery of the NDP through chairing the Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board;
- Capacity reviews of departments and agencies with significant delivery programmes to be carried out, where appropriate, to ensure that adequate resources for project delivery are in place;
- Additional reforms to the Capital Works Management Framework, which sets out the contracts used for public capital projects;
- Direct reporting to Government on NDP delivery on a quarterly basis throughout 2023 and 2024 will now also take place and
- An independent evaluation of NDP priorities and capacity will be conducted over the coming months.
- The general threshold for major projects increasing from €100m to €200m, allowing for projects below this limit to progress more speedily through the appraisal and evaluation process.
- The reduction of the number of approval stages prior to implementation from 5 to 3, reducing the administrative burden on Government departments charged with developing and delivering projects.
- The removal of the requirement for a project to prepare a separate Strategic Assessment Report (SAR) at the start of the process. Instead, all the requirements previously required as part of a SAR must now be completed, and incorporated, as part of the Preliminary Business Case (PBC) at the first approval stage.
I am confident that the combination of the six priority actions above will boost the delivery of the critical infrastructure we need to support a growing economy and higher living standards for those living here. In particular, I believe input of experts on the Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board will highlight the key impediments to project delivery and I will work towards delivering mitigating actions to boost project delivery.
In addition, my Department will continue to work closely with the construction sector in order to improve efficiency and enhanced delivery through the Construction Sector Group. Important initiatives have been launched and supported through the Construction Sector Group to increase productivity in the sector. These include the recently established Construction Technology Centre, known as Construct Innovate, to accelerate research and innovation within the sector; the Build Digital Project funded by my Department to support the sector in its transition to digital; the adoption of Building Information Modelling; and an analysis of the cost of residential construction which was recently published.
The Government is also committed to 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. All such updates are available on gov.ie/2040.
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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139. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which reform continues to be a part of the vision for his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22337/23]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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141. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which reforms remain constant and effective in the delivery of his Department's mission statement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22339/23]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 139 and 141 together.
My Department's mission is to serve the public interest through sound governance of public expenditure and by leading and enabling reform across the Civil and Public Service.
Since its establishment my Department has led on and introduced a range of reforms including:
- expenditure reforms and innovations in policy-making to support the management of expenditure at sustainable levels in a planned, rational and balanced manner to support Ireland’s economic development and social progress;
- digital transformation of our public services;
- a legislative programme to enhance trust and transparency across government;
- better data sharing and management to inform policy and service delivery;
- the delivery of relevant, high quality Open Data, that is accessible to all;
- successive Civil Service Renewal and Public Service reform programmes which have been aimed at improving how the Civil and Public Services deliver their functions and services, HR changes to support better performance, learning and development, embedding innovation and new ways of working; and
- the establishment of structures such as the National Shared Services Office (NSSO) and the Office for Government Procurement to secure efficiencies.
Last week, I launched Better Public Services, a new strategy for public service transformation to 2030, which is aimed at delivering for the public and building trust. The vision set out in the strategy is for ‘Inclusive, high quality and integrated Public Service provision that meets the needs, and improves the lives, of the people of Ireland’. The strategy, which is available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/publication/80247-better-public-services-public-service-transformation-2030-strategy/, aligns with Civil Service Renewal 2030 and is framed around three themes; Digital and Innovation at Scale, Workforce and Organisation of the Future and Evidence-informed policy and services designed for and with our public. The strategy will support each sector of the Public Service to achieve their own sectoral level reform programmes and help the Public Service play its part in meeting the challenges we face.
My Department is leading an initiative to support public service organisations to use design to deliver high quality services which are accessible, inclusive and sustainable. Design Principles for the Irish Public Service were launched in October 2022. The next phase of this initiative will produce an Action Plan to embed design in public service organisations.
Furthermore, in line with a Programme for Government commitment, officials are working with Civil Society representatives to craft Ireland’s Fourth National Action Plan under the Open Government Partnership, a multilateral initiative currently comprising 76 countries worldwide with the objective of enhancing transparency, accountability and public participation in government.
Additionally, my Department is also currently developing a new Open Data strategy which will aim to continue to strengthen our networks and improve communications between data publishers and users to ensure the transparency, quality and relevance of open data.
My Department continues to promote evidence-informed policy making across Government. The Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) is a cross-departmental service organised from my Department. In 2022, IGEES staff carried out a significant volume of analysis including the production and publication of 20 Spending Review papers.
Officials in my Department continue to promote the highest standards of transparency and accountability through Government reform. The recently enacted Protected Disclosures Act 2022 creates improved reporting channels and procedures for individuals who wish to raise concerns about potential wrongdoing.
Procurement reform remains a key priority. The recently issued Circular 05/2023 advances further initiatives to support small and medium enterprises in competing for Government contracts. The Office for Government Procurement is currently in the process of launching a new eTenders platform to further support digital procurement and a programme of training for buyers and suppliers is on using this system currently underway.
The digital agenda also plays an important role in ongoing reform. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer continues to advance reform initiatives including building public trust through the effective operation of the Data Governance Board, expanding internal services through the Build to Share suite of applications, supporting public engagement through ongoing development of the gov.ie platform, and leading on initiatives such as the national low latency platform.
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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142. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which FEMPI has been resolved to the satisfaction of those previously impacted by various cuts in expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22340/23]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The process of unwinding the Financial Emergency (FEMPI) legislation commenced under the Lansdowne Road Agreement 2016-2018, with the remainder of the process continuing under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 (PSSA) and ‘Building Momentum: A New Public Service Agreement, 2021-2022’.
Each year, under the terms of the FEMPI Act 2013, I am obliged to carry out an annual review of the operation, effectiveness and impact of the FEMPI Acts, having regard to the overall economic conditions in the State and national competitiveness. In this annual review, I am also to consider whether or not any of the provision of the relevant Acts continue to be necessary having regard to the purposes of those Acts, the revenues of the State and State commitments in respect of public service pay and pensions.
The 2022 annual review, a written report of which was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 28 June 2022, recommended the continuation of the unwinding of the FEMPI measures in line with the provisions enacted in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act, 2017. Since publication of the annual FEMPI report, in line with section 20 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017, public servants with annualised basic salaries above €150,000 were restored with effect from 1 July 2022, with the result that all public servants have had their salaries restored.
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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145. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he and his Department continue to liaise with fellow Government Ministers with a view to delivering the absolute necessities in terms of road and rail transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22343/23]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery & Reform, I am responsible for setting the overall multi-annual capital expenditure ceilings for each Ministerial Vote Group as set out in the National Development Plan and Project Ireland 2040, of which road and rail projects will play a vital role. My department liaises on a ongoing basis with the Department of Transport on these projects.
My Department is also responsible for maintaining the national frameworks within which Departments must operate to ensure that public funding is appropriately accounted for and that value for money for public expenditure is achieved. The Public Spending Code sets the value for money requirements and guidance for evaluating, planning and managing capital projects. Management and delivery of investment projects and public services within allocation and the national frameworks is a key responsibility of every Department and Minister.
My Department is not responsible for the sanctioning or approving of specific road and rail projects; this is matter for the Department and Minister for Transport.
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