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Article: Government to outline €39.4bn capital plan

Cool Mo D

I thought this might be of interest here:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0726/breaking11.html

The Government is expected to announce a major rescheduling of decentralisation as part of its six-year €39.43 billion revised capital investment programme to be published today.

...

State spending on healthcare infrastructure is likely to be cut, but the relocation of the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) to a new campus at Grangegorman on the city’s northside will go ahead.

...

Metro North and the €2.5 billion Dart underground project are to proceed, but rail links from Dublin to Navan and from Tuam to Claremorris will be put on hold.

Potential for job creation was the deciding factor in choosing between different projects, according to Government sources.

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Hogzy

Is this for ALL government spending (ie Healthcare, education, social welfare etc) or for New projects only?

G_R

just thought I'd post a few more articles about it, in case ye missed any of em

Sunday Business Post:

Government puts brakes on several planned rail projects
25 July 2010 By Nicola Cooke

Major infrastructure projects, including a planned rail link between Dublin and Navan, are set to be dropped under the government’s revised capital spending budget.

The third phase of the Western Rail Corridor, linking Tuam and Claremorris in Galway, is also likely to be cut. The Sunday Business Post understands that the third phase of the rail corridor, which was ultimately intended to link Limerick and Sligo, is no longer considered viable, because of a much higher cost per kilometre.

The first phase of the rail link, linking Ennis and Athenry, was opened earlier this year. It cost €106.5 million.

CIE is looking for funding in the region of €60 million for phase two, which is to link Athenry to Tuam.

However, well -placed sources said a further extension was not likely in the foreseeable future. Phase two of the Navan rail line - which would connect Navan to Dublin via Dunboyne - is not expected to come to fruition because of the cost involved. The first phase of that project, a 7.5 kilometre line connecting Clonsilla with Dunboyne, will open in September.

Under the new capital investment plan for 2010 to 2016, some €5.5 billion - of a total €39.43 billion - will be spent on public transport.

The projects that will receive funding under the new capital budget include the €2.5 billion Dart Underground, along with related rail projects, including the extension of the Dart to Maynooth, Hazelhatch/Celbridge and the Northern line.

The major Metro North project will also be completed, as will the Luas extensions to Cherrywood and CityWest. A link up of the Green and Red Luas lines is still believed to be on the agenda.

Figures compiled for government show that, by 2016, the Luas will take 12 million car trips per annum off Dublin routes, and Metro North will take 13 million trips off roads. The National Roads Authority is not expecting any major changes to its budget, as the vast bulk of its capital allocation this year is for the completion of the motorway network.

Its budget for next year is primarily for agreed public private partnership projects, such as the M18 linking Gort and Tuam, andtheM20motorway between Cork and Limerick.

The Construction Industry Federation has said it is ‘‘imperative’’ that the capital budget is not cut further. It said capital spending had already been reduced by €1 billion this year, from €6.6 billion to €5.6 billion.

‘‘There are almost no new capital projects starting, and the ongoing ones are coming to an end," said CIF spokesman Martin Whelan. ‘‘We really need a stimulus now to create employment, or there will be no construction industry left in the country."

Belfast Telegraph

Brian Cowen announces investment boost
Monday, 26 July 2010

Over 39 billion euro is to be spent by the Irish Government on capital works over the next six years, the Taoiseach announced.

Public transport, roads, schools, health facilities, the environment and job supports will be some of the key areas of investment under the plans.

Brian Cowen said it was the type of stimulus needed to help rebuild confidence and boost economic recovery.

"Investment in infrastructure is an investment in the future of the Irish people," the Taoiseach said.

"It will not only greatly improve the lives of our citizens, it will help to create jobs now and sustain jobs for the future."

Mr Cowen said the country was in a new situation and priorities were refocused.

Under the plans there will be a doubling of investment through the enterprise agencies to help build the so-called smart economy and create jobs.

Money will also be put into public transport and upgrading the country's water supplies.

Mr Cowen added: "With the national motorway network nearly completed and tender prices significantly reduced, we are in a position to press ahead with a new capital investment programme that is ambitious, appropriate and affordable."

Fin Facts - Irish Indo

The Irish Independent reports that householders face a double whammy of a property tax and water charges next year after both were yesterday put firmly back on the table by a senior government minister.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern made it clear that both measures were still under serious consideration as part of the plan to raise €3bn in increased taxation and cutbacks in the Budget. The Cabinet is due to meet today for the last time before its summer break to sign off on the final details of the revised €39bn capital spending plan and the preparations for the December Budget. "That may include a property tax and charging for water -- which are in every other European country," Mr Ahern said.

He also signalled that the Government was still examining plans to force more low-paid workers to pay tax. "There's a relatively small percentage of people who are paying tax. But 50pc of people are not paying a bob of tax. That is not sustainable," he told Newstalk 106.

The original 2007-2013 National Development Plan (NDP) provided for €184bn in current and capital spending, but it has become unaffordable due to the crisis in the public finances.

In the revised plan that is set to be launched today by Taoiseach Brian Cowen, the Navan rail link and the final phase of the Western Rail Corridor will be cancelled and funding for new roads will also be cut.

However, two of the biggest construction projects in the history of the State -- the Metro North line to Dublin Airport and the DART Underground -- are likely to get the go-ahead.

Mr Cowen said the plan was exactly the type of stimulus that the economy needed in order to help rebuild confidence and accelerate economic recovery.

"It will not only greatly improve the lives of our citizens, it will help to create jobs now and to sustain jobs for the future," he said.

The Taoiseach said the plan would include a doubling of investment through the enterprise agencies -- such as IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland -- to build the 'smart economy' and create sustainable jobs.

Mr Cowen also said that upgrades of public transport and water services would get a greater share of capital investment.

A Green Party source said the party had worked hard to protect investment in this area and in the area of improving energy efficiency.

But the sectors most at risk of cutbacks include tourism (which had been promised €800m under the current NDP) and social housing (which was due to have 60,000 new units).

The construction industry has been pushing for the maximum spend possible on capital projects, pointing out that €100m invested in infrastructure per annum creates 1,000 jobs.

However, the Government is hoping to get better value for money because the cost of construction projects has fallen by 30pc. Sources say it expects to get more for less.

Economist Colm McCarthy, who chaired the 'Bord Snip Nua' group last year, backed the Government's decisions to cut back on capital spending.

"That makes sense, the economy is much smaller than we thought it was going to be and the pressure on infrastructure of various kinds is less than it's going to be and it's not going to recover in a hurry," he told RTE's 'This Week' programme.

When the National Development Plan 2007-2013 was announced three years ago by Mr Cowen as Finance Minister, he declared that it was based on an expectation of annual average economic growth of between 4pc and 4.5pc.

The Government was so confident of growth that it included €2bn per year of extra capital spending more than had been recommended by the Economic and Social Research Institute.

Deficit

But due to the 15pc decline in output over the past two years, Mr Cowen is now presiding over the slashing of the plan in response to the huge deficit in the public finances.

However, he pointed out yesterday that several key NDP projects had already been almost completed, such as the inter-urban motorways.

Mr Cowen is due to cut the ribbon for the new €660m Limerick Tunnel tomorrow, which stretches 670 metres under the River Shannon.

Although the Cabinet will not make any Budget-related decisions until later in the year, one cutback which is expected is a reduction in the number of diplomatic staff in smaller embassies abroad.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin plans to have more 'model embassies', with just an ambassador or diplomat -- instead of having two or three other diplomats as support staff.

marmurr1916

I hope the reports are accurate when they state that the underground rail link, Metro North, the extensions to the DART and the extensions to the Luas network are safe.

Good to see that funding for the completion of the M18/M17 is secure and that the M20 PPP is also going to be funded.

Amtmann

See below...

Hogzy

I presume the Cork South Ring Flyovers will be funded, Seeing as they have been "promised" by local politicians to start const this Q4.

Is there a more detailed report Furet or is that all there is?

Amtmann

Hogzy wrote: »

Is there a more detailed report Furet or is that all there is?

That's all I could find. I hope a much more detailed document turns up, because that one is very scant.

glineli

No mention of what specific roads. I was hoping to hear Gort to Tuam was still on the cards

T Corolla

Very sad to see Dublin-Navan shelved. The amount of campaigning for with was overwhelming but at a price tag of 1/2 billion I could see it was standing out. Hopefully they will get the money in the next two years and build it for 2015. It is badly wanted

The Word Is Bor

Furet wrote: »

That's all I could find. I hope a much more detailed document turns up, because that one is very scant.

That is the bumpf with the fancy graphics, i.e. full of sound and fury signifying nothing.

The devil is in the detail. But even that detail is a little lacking so as to leave them plenty of wriggle room for the future.

Road spend is to drop massively in case anyone didn't already know it. €1.4Bn in 2010 down to €570m in 2016 with public transport going in the opposite direction.

Road-Hog

glineli wrote: »

No mention of what specific roads. I was hoping to hear Gort to Tuam was still on the cards

If you are referring to the Frank Fahy M17 then you can be sure it will start soon, hasn't the tendering of this project been narrowed down to 2 consortia with a supposed award of contract before year is out with construction commencing late 2010/early 2011

glineli

Road-Hog wrote: »

If you are referring to the Frank Fahy M17 then you can be sure it will start soon, hasn't the tendering of this project been narrowed down to 2 consortia with a supposed award of contract before year is out with construction commencing late 2010/early 2011

Yes thats the one, M17/M18. I see in that doc it has the completion of Galway - Cork, Atlantic corridor so hopefully that means it will go ahead.

Neworder79

Why oh why so little detail, there's more talk about what they have done than what they will.

We've had leaks and articles week after week saying this will go ahead, that's cut, claim and counter claim from one TD or another Minister. Would they not just come clean, we know the revised plan involves cutting projects, just spell it out.

Hogzy

The Word Is Bor wrote: »

Road spend is to drop massively in case anyone didn't already know it. €1.4Bn in 2010 down to €570m in 2016 with public transport going in the opposite direction.

No doubt the majority of that public transport money will be spent within Dublin Metro Area

D.L.R.

Hogzy wrote: »

No doubt the majority of that public transport money will be spent within Dublin Metro Area

Jaysus, Cork's transport really must be rancid if ye think Dublin gets too much of the pie. But rest assured, crap public transport is a nationwide epidemic.

Tech3

glineli wrote: »

No mention of what specific roads. I was hoping to hear Gort to Tuam was still on the cards

I wouldnt worry too much about the M17/M18 Gort-Tuam scheme. The EIB have backed it and will loan out a good size of the overall cost. It's whittled down to two consortia also.

Newlands X/M11 PPP will also probably go ahead.

"Roads investment between 2010-2016 €5.77 billion"

If the above is promised then there is under 4 billion allocated between 2011-2016. Should we expect anything other than the PPP's to get built between now and then? Hmmm... I doubt it somehow.

Sponge Bob

tech2 wrote: »

"Roads investment between 2010-2016 €5.77 billion"

If the above is promised then there is under 4 billion allocated between 2011-2016. Should we expect anything other than the PPP's to get built between now and then? Hmmm... I doubt it somehow.

This is less than €1bn a year and includes the Regional and Local maintenance budget ...€400m in recent years. The National Road maintenance budget was up to €200m in recent years.

This leaves around €350m, per annum, for new build (you would think), but only in 2011 and 2012. The government moves to maintenance only by 2014

The "completion" of the Atlantic Road corridor by 2015 ( Transport 21) has been replaced with ( thanks for the find The Word is Bor) no money save for a few PPPs.

http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/publications/reports/2010/capitalreview.pdf

Total roads expenditure ( p 44 of 131) in millions

2010 1,414
2011 1,150
2012 920
2013 720
2014 620
2015 570
2016 570

P 37 of 131

In the particular economic context of today, the immediate objective must be to focus on those road connections which are needed to facilitate and promote economic recovery. By definition such roads are the major interurban routes between Dublin and the regional cities - which will be completed by end 2010 - and key strategic routes linking Dublin
and Cork to Rosslare Port (part of the Trans European Network) and linking Galway to Cork (part of the Atlantic Road Corridor). The existing road network should be maintained to a sufficient standard to ensure the value of the original capital investment does not depreciate prematurely over the coming years.

unit 1

Will we call it the N5 or END 5, as theres little chance of this going ahead.

Sponge Bob

One other point, I cannot see where the money is coming from to complete the M20 Cork Limerick by 2016. I am sceptical about them even starting it but complete it....nahhhh

The table on page 44 and the notes above it clearly show that the government has conflated the current and capital budgets of previous years into what they call a capital budget but which is clearly mainly a CURRENT expenditure budget.

Dempsey announced €1.115bn for National Roads in 2010 HERE
Dempsey announced €411m for Regional and Local Roads in 2010 HERE

That is €1.526bn by simple addition. The government confirmed this was cut back since to €1.424bn ( page 44) .

Looking at the €620m spend on roads from 2014 onwards and comparing with past years I can assert that From 2014 the Government proposes to spend as much or less on Regional National and Local Roads , capital and current as it spend on Regional and Local roads alone in 2009, capital and current.

In 2010 The NRA allegedly gets €44m for repairing signing and gritting ALL NATIONAL ROADS same as 2009.
In 2009 Regional and local roads between them got €126m for maintenance ( current) in 2009 Dempsey cut that back to €112m in 2010 ( current)
GOVERNMENT SPENDING on regional and local roads is to be cut by almost €200 million to €411 million this year, down from €607 million in 2009.

I believe this is the second lot of 2010 cutbacks after the February cutbacks ( the day after the announcements nearly) which were spotted HERE and then spotted 4 days afterwards by the Times

T Corolla

I wonder will they open Drogheda-Navan instead and give Navan a service similar to most commuter towns hourly peak two hours off peak that would be a good help as Navan has fairly good bus services from the town

skelliser

so is the "atlantic corrider" scrapped?

what about transport 21?

Sponge Bob

skelliser wrote: »

so is the "atlantic corrider" scrapped?

scrapped

what about transport 21?

long scrapped, c. March-June 2008 in fact

KevR

Interesting that there's going to be a big shift towards spending on public transport now that most of the major routes on our road network have been brought up to scratch. I remember people saying a while back that a new rail line should be built between Limerick and Cork instead of the M20 implying that only one or the other could ever be done. "The Germans have realised that building more roads doesn't work and they are mostly spending money on public transport now" <-- not true at all; the Germans built a good road network first and then switched their focus to public transport; it doesn't have to be one orthe other in the long-term but we might only be able to do one thing at a time. The roads we are building now are a long term investment, we won't have to spend huge amounts on roads once they are done properly and that will allow us to spend more on public transport in the coming years.

Neworder79

Not surprised about the WDC phase3, but I'd hoped the Atlantic Corridor or N5 schemes would be sustained in favor. It seems from my reading there will be no capital investment west of the Shannon in the near future bar the M18 PPP.

Looks like N17 Atlantic Corridor, WRC, N5/26, Regional Airports grants all for the knife. Throw in major cutbacks in health, probably Roscommon/Ballinasloe Hospitals to close.

Yes that's the stimulus we've been waiting for.

strassenwo!f

Is all of this money "ring-fenced", like with the T21 plan?:D

Heroditas

A guest on Newstalk just after 5 this evening said the link-up of the two LUAS lines has now been binned in the current development plan. I really hope he's wrong.

paulm17781

Heroditas wrote: »

A guest on Newstalk just after 5 this evening said the link-up of the two LUAS lines has now been binned in the current development plan. I really hope he's wrong.

They've said it's in it while saying "no new investment in Luas". I'm sure who I believe, the government report or the government report.

paulm17781

Out of curiosity, is this 5 years to the day of "T21" and it's "ring fenced" funding or just close to?

Heroditas

paulm17781 wrote: »

They've said it's in it while saying "no new investment in Luas". I'm sure who I believe, the government report or the government report.

Oh ok, I was only half-listening at the time.
I assume the "no new investment" refers to such developments as the Lucan line then?

Hogzy

Seeing as the M20 'seems' to be getting the go-ahead i wonder if we will see any progress on the N/M22 Cork North Ring Road

skelliser

So the west has been sacrificed in favour of this economic vote generating stimulus for leinster.

shameful.