Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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664. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform how the provision of information to Dáil Éireann and public on specific capital spending projects supported by the public purse compares to other European states; whether there has been any assessment by his Department of whether it is fit for purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20554/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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EU member states report on capital projects primarily through a combination of national reporting practices and mechanisms to comply with EU regulations and guidelines. Each EU member State has its own system for managing and reporting on their public investments, including capital projects.

In regard to Ireland, substantial information on capital infrastructure projects is made available to both Dáil Éireann and to the wider public.

There is currently extensive reporting of capital projects in the financial statements of Government Departments and Offices as well as the annual reports and financial statements of bodies under their aegis. All Government Departments and Offices, as well as nearly all bodies under their aegis, report their capital assets (Property, Plant and Equipment as well as Intangible Assets) on their Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet) along with extensive disclosure notes. Bodies under the Aegis and Local Authorities report under accounting framework FRS 102 and from 2024, Government Departments report using Central Government Accounting Standards based on International Public Sector Accounting Standards. It is important to highlight that every euro spent in a given year is accounted for in the Appropriation Accounts and is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

In the annual appropriation accounts of Government Departments, details of all major capital projects and Public Private Partnership projects, where the project value exceeds €10,000,000, are separately disclosed. Where the reported commitment level or projected project cost has varied by more than €500,000 compared with the previous year, the reason for the movement are also explained.

The Government is committed to detailing progress on the delivery of the NDP at regular intervals to allow for full transparency of the implementation of Project Ireland 2040. This is achieved through regular updates of the Project Ireland 2040 capital investment tracker and MyProjectIreland interactive map viewer 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 that have been made throughout the country.

The capital tracker and interactive map are key tools in overseeing the progress of Project Ireland 2040. Their purpose is to facilitate communication, monitoring and planning of investments, to inform citizens of the variety of projects currently in the planning and construction phase in their local regions and throughout the country. They provide an aid to industry by giving a greater overview to the construction and infrastructure sectors of the Government's investment commitments and future opportunities for these sectors.

Government Departments and Local Authorities are also required to publish details of projects of €500,000 and more under management (these projects may not even incur €500,000 in a single year but might be at that level over multiple years). The National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) publish detailed updates for each county council on projects of a relatively modest value of €500,000 or more. The latest publication for end-2023 was published in September 2024 and can be found at the following link: www.noac.ie/noac_publications/report-70-public-spending-code-report-2023/. The inventory table is included at Appendix 4 and it runs to over 100 pages of updates on individual projects at county council level.