Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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29. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when he will bring forward a public investment Bill; the rationale for the Bill; the likely objectives of such legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40119/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits my Department to review the Infrastructure Guidelines and to create a Public Investment Act, requiring sponsoring agencies to meet timelines on development of project appraisals and other evaluations so as to reduce delays in decision making and embed value for money across all capital projects.

In April, a series of actions were agreed by Government with the aim of accelerating the delivery of strategic infrastructure to support the delivery of housing and improvements in competitiveness.

These actions, which will be led by myself and my Department include:

• Review of the NDP by end July, of which guidance has issued to all Departments emphasising the Programme for Government’s prioritisation of increased investment in growth enhancing infrastructure, such as energy grid capacity, water supply, transport connectivity and health digitalisation.
• The establishment of a new Infrastructure Division within my Department, which includes redeployed experts from key delivery agencies, such as ESB Networks, Eirgrid, Uisce Eireann, Transport Infrastructure Ireland. These redeployed experts bring their experience and expertise to develop impactful policies that improve infrastructure delivery.
• The preparation of an evidence-based assessment of the barriers impeding timely infrastructure development, which will inform an Action Plan of high-impact reform measures that Government will consider for implementation.
• The establishment of a new Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce that the Minister will chair and which will meet monthly, and monitor the implementation of the Action Plan’s measures. The taskforce’s membership includes a small number of senior leaders with direct experience of infrastructure development, joined by the CEOs of the semi-states most integral to infrastructure development.
• The expansion of the role of the National Development Finance Agency, which will provide Departments with additional expert assistance and support on major public capital investment projects through dedicated support teams for specific projects referred to it.