Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
124. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Transport his views on the analysis of the breakdown of underspend by the Department of Transport contained in the fiscal monitor report of August 2023, conducted by the Parliamentary Budget Office (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41264/23]
View answerDeputy,
The analysis of the breakdown of spend by my Department contained in the fiscal monitor report of August 2023, conducted by the Parliamentary Budget Office accurately reflects the Departments status at the end of August 2023.
Reasons for expenditure occurring in quarters other than originally anticipated include:
1. The contract award for the signalling element of the Cork Commuter Rail project was signed on 30th June, delaying payment by circa two months.
2. Some work at Colbert station was briefly postponed resulting in an underspend in the first half of the year. The 2023 activity was reprofiled for the similar overall total, with timings changed for key construction components to Q3 and early Q4.
3. A second milestone payment for DART+ fleet is due in Q3 to bring expenditure back on profile.
4. Expected Kishoge station works deferred for a short period.
5. New Regional Commuter and BusConnects fleet was received in May and are under inspection prior to acceptance. Another bus acquisition will be made later this year and a major payment is expected to be processed at the end of Q4.
I expect expenditure to return profile over the remaining months of 2023.
