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 the agencies under their remit, accounting for the demands for services in different areas and regions and 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.
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).
In line with balanced regional development, the change in designation by the European Commission will mean only that there is a lower contribution by the Commission to certain EU funded projects – 40-50% of the total cost instead of 60-70%. It will not affect project selection or implementation. In addition, the Border Counties will continue to benefit from EU funds where the co-financing rate is not affected by the change in designation, including the European Social Fund and the cross-border PEACEPLUS programme.
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 Border Counties. For example, the Dungloe to Glenties road and the Burtonport to Letterkenny Greenway in Donegal, the Collooney to Castlebaldwin road and the Easter Garavogue Bridge in Sligo, the Northern Counties Railway Greenway from Sligo Town through to Blacklion in Cavan and then onto Enniskillin in County Fermanagh. Libraries and Courthouses were expanded on in Cavan and Donegal, mental health services were delivered in Sligo and residential care centres developed in Leitrim and Monaghan. And investment in town centres and urban regeneration projects were completed across all five of these border counties.
The National Development Plan (NDP) review published in July last year, required the publication of sectoral investment plans. These plans have now been published and set out the capital projects to be prioritised from 2026 to 2030, so as to be in line with the objectives of the National Planning Framework (NPF), including in terms of balanced regional development.
The 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. These can be assessed for projects across the country – and include for example the Ballyjamesduff Wastewater treatment plant upgrade and the Further Education and Training programme at Cavan Institute in Cavan, investment in the Ten T roads project and Atlantic Technological University in Donegal, the Ardee to Castleblaney South road in Monaghan and investment in the Mayo Sligo Leitrim Further Education and Training Centre at Mohill.
Furthermore, 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.
