Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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147. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has met with senior representatives of the OPW to discuss the issues of excessive costs of project delivery; if so, when these meetings took place; if minutes of such meetings will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16106/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Upon my appointment as Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services, Reform and Digitalisation, I met with the Minister of State with responsibility for Public Works and the Chairman of the OPW to discuss the upcoming strategic priorities of the organisation in the context of the Programme for Government. The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to improve the delivery of public services with a focus on achieving value for money.

Specific commitments are made with regard to the OPW, in terms of ensuring that the Office and its structures deliver best value for money outcomes on all projects. The OPW have already implemented measures to strengthen its governance frameworks and is in the process of finalising guidance for staff in relation to the approval and oversight of capital projects. Officials in my Department will continue to support the OPW in this regard.

At a wider Government level, one of my Department’s key roles is the development of robust guidance, codes of practice and circulars to support best practice in the pursuit of value for money; for example the Infrastructure Guidelines, and the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. This guidance provided by my Department outlines the clear, established roles and responsibilities in place to mitigate against waste and improve value for money. These rules are in place to support Accounting Officers in discharging their responsibility to ensure effective delivery, value for money and accountability.