Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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72. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform how the Ireland 2040 aspiration for doubling the growth of Waterford has been operationalised in capital spending over the life of this Government; the amount of the €44 billion voted expenditure has been invested in Waterford and the NUTS 3 southeast region in quantum of money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30133/24]

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 2021-30 (NDP), rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case. Expenditure is therefore allocated and monitored on a Departmental basis and not on a regional basis.

In 2024, over €13 billion will be made available from the Exchequer for investment in public capital projects. This level of expenditure will be pivotal in consolidating the progress already made, supporting balanced regional development and, most importantly, delivering the necessary infrastructure to support our future climate change obligations as well as our 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 latest capital investment tracker, published in May, provides a composite update on the progress of all major investments with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million. Accompanying the tracker, the myProjectIreland interactive map details projects across the country and provides details on specific projects by county, and contains 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 three Regional Assembly areas have been published for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. The reports set out the regional projects and programmes, which are being planned and delivered in the southeast region, as part of the public investment detailed in Project Ireland 2040. While the reports do not provide an exhaustive list of all public capital expenditure, they serve to highlight the diverse range of investments being made by the State under Project Ireland 2040 in the region. The 2023 Regional Reports are expected to be published in Q3.

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