40. Deputy Edward Timmins asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the steps being taken to ensure long-term capital commitments for specific infrastructure projects such as rail; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40590/26]

As 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.

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.

The NDP Review 2025 set out planned public investment of €275.4 billion from 2026-2035, and an additional €10 billion in equity release up to 2030. This includes €3.5 billion for energy grid capacity, €4.5 billion for water and €2 billion for low-carbon transport including Metrolink. As part of the Review, €102.4 billion has been allocated across Government Departments for the period 2026-2030 with over €19 billion allocated for investment in capital projects and programmes this year alone. This level of investment will ensure long-term certainty for each of the Government sectors and the construction sector to confidently plan and finance large-scale strategic projects.

Over the end of 2025 and early 2026, individual Ministers developed sectoral level plans, for priority investment programmes and projects within their additional capital allocations for delivery across the country. Considering sectoral needs and Ministerial decisions, these plans reflect Government priorities, including the National Planning Framework commitment to balanced regional development.

The plans include planned investment and projects across the country, including a range of rail project works such as Dart + Coastal South and Dart+ Wicklow town, investments in new state stations and the train protection system nationally and next generation ticketing services.

Sectoral plans are available on each Departmental website and will provide the Deputy with further detail.