Thomas Gould
Question:101. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform for an update on National Development Plan projects in Cork city. [19709/24]
View answerThursday, 2 May 2024
Questions (101)
Written answers
As Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform 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, within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan 2021-30 (NDP), rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case. Expenditure is therefore allocated and monitored on a Departmental basis and not a geographical basis.
The Government has committed €165 billion towards capital investment through the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-30 published in 2021. Following the conclusion of more than 30 bilateral meetings which took place from January to March with my Ministerial colleagues, on 27 March I was pleased to announce that I had reached agreement on the distribution of an additional €2.25 billion of windfall corporate tax receipts which we are committing to shovel-ready capital projects out to 2026. This builds on the existing funding of €165 billion already available under the NDP and it will mean more schools, housing, transport and healthcare projects can be progressed and delivered for our people.
With my colleague Minister McGrath I was also delighted to publish on April 4, the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024 which will seek to deal with the pro-cyclicality of capital spending. A €14 billion reserve will be established over the period 2024 to 2030 and this will provide support for the economy in times of exceptional need and help to maintain the record high levels of investment we currently see. This important initiative will serve to protect capital expenditure into future and ensure the continued delivery of important capital projects for the benefit of all our citizens.
In 2024, over €13 billion will be made available from the Exchequer for investment in public capital projects. This level of expenditure will be pivotal in consolidating the progress already made, supporting balanced regional development and, most importantly, delivering the necessary infrastructure to support our future climate change obligations as well as our social and economic requirements.
The Government will continue to detail the delivery of the NDP at regular intervals into the future to allow for full transparency on the implementation of Project Ireland 2040. This will be achieved through regular updates of the Project Ireland 2040 capital investment tracker and map as well as the publication of annual reports and regional reports highlighting Project Ireland 2040 achievements and giving a detailed overview of the public investments which have been made throughout the country, including in Cork city.
The latest capital investment tracker, published yesterday, 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 and social housing projects. Search facilities also allow citizens to view projects in their regional area, by city, by county or by eircode.
In addition, Regional Reports on the implementation of Project Ireland 2040 in the three Regional Assembly areas have been published for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. The reports set out the regional projects and programmes, which are being planned and delivered in the Southern Region, including in Cork city, as part of the public investment detailed in Project Ireland 2040. While the reports do not provide an exhaustive list of all public capital expenditure, they serve to highlight the diverse range of investments being made by the State under Project Ireland 2040 in the region. The 2023 Regional Reports are expected to be published in Q3.
The Project Ireland 2040 Regional Reports, capital investment tracker and myProjectIreland interactive map are all available on gov.ie/2040.