Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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161. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of and timeline for the publication of the report that will provide details from all agencies under his remit of capital projects that cost more than €500,000 and were either abandoned or materially failed to be delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34637/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Following my appointment as Minister, issues were brought to my attention regarding a failed ICT project in the Arts Council and an unused X-ray machine in the National Gallery. Both these projects were funded directly by my Department.

Given the serious nature of these issues, I wanted assurance in relation to capital expenditure in other areas under the aegis of my Department.

I therefore requested my Secretary General to write to all the State bodies under its aegis in the culture, sport and media sectors, seeking information with regard to expenditure on capital projects since 2020 to provide assurance to me and, more important, the public with regard to the management of capital expenditure. Bodies were asked to provide budgetary information on capital projects costing more than €500,000 since 2020.

In addition, bodies were asked to identify if there were other capital projects below this level of expenditure that should be brought to the Department’s attention for any other reason, such as where there has been significant expenditure on projects that were abandoned or have materially failed to deliver on their objectives.

My officials compiled a report on foot of the responses received. The report was published on my Department’s website on May 14^th .