Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 May 2024
79. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform how his Department assesses demographic needs and the capital investments which it will require to be scheduled over the medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19863/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government has committed to €165 billion in capital investment through the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-30 published in 2021. As set out in the Summer Economic Statement (SES) 2023, an additional €2.25 billion of capital funding was made available to be allocated in the 2024 to 2026 period. This funding will facilitate the progression of important projects and enable more rapid development of key Programme for Government commitments, such as the delivery of actions to fulfil our climate action plan commitments, the provision of more housing and enhanced education facilities. Following the conclusion of more than 30 bilateral meetings which took place from January to March with my Ministerial colleagues, the distribution of the additional €2.25 billion across Departments was agreed by Government in March 2024. This builds on the existing funding already available under the NDP out to 2026 and it will mean more schools, housing, transport and healthcare projects can be progressed and delivered for our people. Deliverability was of critical focus in the NDP process with funding to be provided to those projects and programmes that will be successfully delivered or on track for delivery at end-2026.
Overall in 2024, €13 billion will fund vital infrastructure. The total available capital funding for 2025 is now €14.35 billion and for 2026 it is €15.459 billion. As a percentage of national income, annual capital investment is now among the largest in the EU.
As regards the assessment of demographic needs, the Deputy will be aware that the Government agreed in March to the deferral of the approval of a revised National Planning Framework (NPF) and have set out a revised timeline for the process. The revision to the NPF is informed, to a significant degree, by census data and the postponement of the census in 2021 due to the global pandemic, resulted in the delayed publication of crucial census outputs relating to housing and demographics. In light of the extent of recent demographic change and the implications for future population projections and structural housing demand, Government has decided to defer the approval of a draft revised NPF until the full suite of data required to properly consider matters relating to demographics and population projections has been completed by the Economic Social and Research Institute (ESRI). The ESRI have currently produced a draft final report, which is now subject to peer review. The independent report will published by the ESRI once all the final reviews have been completed.
