Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 May 2026
21. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation for an update on infrastructure projects currently be undertaken in Kildare north; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40797/26]
View answerAs 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.
Since Project Ireland 2040 was first launched in 2018, the Government has overseen the delivery of many impactful NDP projects across the country, including in the north Kildare region, such as the widening of the M7 Naas to Newbridge bypass, the Sallins bypass, Maynooth University Technology Society and Innovation Building, a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school in Naas Community College and a Naas Library. Numerous smaller projects have also been delivered or are planned for North Kildare in the housing, education and cultural sectors, including the delivery of hundreds of new housing units over recent years across towns such as Naas, Maynooth and Kilcock.
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. These sectors, electricity, water and transport, were further defined as critical infrastructure in the Accelerating Infrastructure Actions Report published last December.
Departments have also published sectoral investment plans setting out the capital projects to be prioritised from 2026 to 2030. These plans provide visibility of the delivery pipeline, giving construction firms the certainty they need to invest in hiring, training, and scaling their operations. This multi-year approach is designed to support industry planning and ensure that regional capacity can grow in line with demand.
In developing these sectoral plans, Departments were required to demonstrate how their proposed investments align with the objectives of the National Planning Framework (NPF). This ensures that increased capital spending supports balanced regional development. These sectoral plans are available on each Departmental webpage on the gov.ie website and will provide the Deputy with further detail on a sectoral basis.
