Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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400.To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the steps to be taken to balance regional spending on the northern and western regions of Ireland for the rest of the period of the NDP, in view of the report from the Northern and Western Regional Assembly “Regional Infrastructural Tracker July 2024” which shows that only 9.9% of the investment committed under public service tenders over €1m between 2016 and 2024 was for this region, although the region has 17.6% of the population; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[33936/24]

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 a geographical basis.

The Government committed €165 billion towards capital investment through the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-30 published in 2021. An additional €2.25 billion of windfall corporate tax receipts has also been allocated from 2024 to 2026, to provide funding for critical infrastructure projects that are at an advanced stage as well as to the existing Climate Action Fund.

Following the conclusion of more than 30 bilateral meetings which took place from January to March with my Ministerial colleagues, the distribution of the additional €2.25 billion across Departments was agreed by Government in March 2024. This builds on the existing funding already available under the NDP out to 2026 and it will mean more schools, housing, transport and healthcare projects can be progressed and delivered for our people across all regions.

In 2024, over €13 billion is being 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 is 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. These reports give a detailed overview of the public investments which have been made throughout the country, including in the Northern and Western region.

The capital investment tracker 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. It should be noted that projects and programmes listed on the capital tracker that span counties and Regional Assembly areas are recorded under a heading of “National”. Therefore, searching for projects by Regional Assembly area may not give a full picture of all the projects being developed in a particular region and the projects listed under the National heading should also be taken into account e.g. the National Broadband Plan rollout.

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

Some projects which are currently being implemented or completed in the Northern and Western Regional Assembly area include:

• N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge;
• Provision of 73 social housing units in the Ursuline Convent, Sligo;
• The next phase of the Clifden Town Centre Enhancement Plan
• Sligo Leitrim Northern Counties Railway Greenway;
• Primary Care Centre in Monaghan Town;
• Ulster Canal Restoration, Phase 2;
• N56 Dungloe to Glenties;
• 74 Social Housing units in Ballyburke as part of the PPP Social Housing Bundle.