Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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79. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the current infrastructure he sees as deliverable in Cork before the end of the decade [40325/26]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitisation I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level.

As part of the budgetary process each year, my Department sets overall expenditure ceilings for each Ministerial Vote Group. These are laid out at Vote level in the Budget Day Expenditure Report published in October with further detail provided in the Revised Estimates for Public Services published in December.

Following the allocation of each Ministerial Expenditure Ceiling, it is a matter for each Minister to assign funding as appropriate at programme and subhead level for their Departments and for the agencies and bodies under their remit. They must account for the demands for services in different areas and regions, having regard to demographics and other relevant factors. Within this process, both current and capital expenditure are allocated on a Departmental basis and not a geographic basis.

Balanced regional development is a key priority of this Government and is at the heart of the National Planning Framework (NPF) which sets out the overarching spatial strategy for the next twenty years, along with the National Development Plan. Each Minister is responsible for deciding on the priority programmes and projects that will be delivered under their remit within the NDP and for setting out the timelines for delivery.

The Programme for Government set out the clear prioritisation for the NDP Review to ensure that investment can be maximised in the coming five years for strategic infrastructure. This includes the key energy, water and transport networks on which all future development relies. This is critical to allow Government to meet the additional 300,000 homes target and to support competitiveness.

The NDP Review 2025 set out planned public investment of €275.4 billion from 2026-2030, and an additional €10 billion in equity release up to 2030. This includes €3.5 billion for energy grid capacity, €4.5 billion for water and €2 billion for low-carbon transport including Metrolink.

Over the end of 2025 and early 2026, individual Ministers developed sectoral level plans, for priority investment programmes and projects within their additional capital allocations for delivery across the country. Considering sectoral needs and Ministerial decisions, these plans reflect Government priorities, including the National Planning Framework commitment to balanced regional development.

The plans include planned investment and projects across the country, including a range of projects across transport, justice and utility services in Cork for example:

• Midleton Waste Water Treatment Plant Project
• N72/Mallow Relief Road
• M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy
• Bus Connects Cork and the Cork Area Commuter Rail
• And social and affordable housing at Horgans Quay and Mahon delivering over 390 housing units.