John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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287. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if additional funding will be provided to accelerate public infrastructure upgrades in rural towns such as Macroom and Charleville in Cork north-west which are both experiencing significant population growth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40913/26]

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.

The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects or sectoral policy strategies, within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan (NDP), rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case. 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. Expenditure is therefore allocated and monitored on a Departmental basis and not a geographical basis.

More broadly, the achievement of balanced regional development is a key priority of this Government and is at the heart of Project Ireland 2040, which includes the National Planning Framework (NPF), which sets out the overarching spatial strategy for the next twenty years, along with the National Development Plan.

Since Project Ireland 2040 was first launched in 2018, the Government has overseen the delivery of many impactful NDP projects across the country, including for example across county Cork such as the Dunkettle Interchange upgrade and new platform at Kent train station, Library improvements in Kinsale and Macroom, new wards at Mallow General Hospital, water projects in Bandon, Cork City, Cork Lower Harbour and Skibbereen and in 2025 alone, delivering capital works for 24 schools across the county.

Progress in achieving balanced regional development and detailing the delivery of the NDP is monitored through regular updates of the Project Ireland 2040 capital investment tracker and MyProjectIreland interactive map viewer. The capital investment tracker provides a composite update on the progress of all major investments with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million. Accompanying the tracker, the myProjectIreland interactive map details projects across the country and provides details on specific projects by county, and contains smaller investments such as schools, healthcare facilities and social housing projects. Search facilities allow users to view projects in their regional area, by city, by county or by eircode. Both the capital tracker and the map are available on and will provide the Deputy with specific detail on projects delivered, and status of works ongoing in Cork North-West. Including for example progress on:

• new Divisional Headquarters for An Garda Síochána and town revitalisation projects in Macroom
• Residential Care facilities in Millstreet and in Kanturk Community Hospital
• the Charleville Town Centre Renewal Project and
• Flood relief protecting about 90 properties at Ballybourney and Ballymakeera

• 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.