Changes to government spending rules could see project timelines cut by up to a year

The proposed reforms would see the threshold for which the Department of Public Expenditure’s infrastructure guidelines apply increase from €200m to €500m

Senior government ministers met on Monday at the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure, with public expenditure minister Jack Chambers bringing forward proposals to cut red tape on projects. File Picture: PA

The Government is expected to make a series of reforms to spending rules in a bid to speed up major project timelines.

Senior government ministers met on Monday at the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure, with public expenditure minister Jack Chambers bringing forward proposals to cut red tape on projects.

The proposed changes would see the threshold for which the Department of Public Expenditure’s infrastructure guidelines apply increase from €200m to €500m.

These infrastructure guidelines set out the rules for meeting value for money in project delivery across government departments. It is understood that the proposals could see timelines on such projects cut by as much as a year.

Changes will also be made to the external assurance process, which is a mandatory independent review of major capital projects. Some of the approval processes are set to be removed to save time.

“The changes proposed by [Jack] Chambers amount to a significant reform of the barriers and requirements placed on government departments by the Department of Public Expenditure,” one government source said.

Mr Chambers brought 30 actions to the Cabinet subcommittee that are set to be included as part of the report of the acceleration infrastructure taskforce. It is expected that this report will be brought to Cabinet by the end of the month.

Canadian legislation

It comes after Taoiseach Micheál Martin indicated the Government would be considering introducing legislation to empower the Cabinet to fast-track major infrastructure projects.

Similar legislation has recently been introduced by Canada, with Mr Martin saying Ireland could pursue a similar plan. This could include measures that "circumvent” issues such as judicial reviews.

“I've asked the Attorney General [Rossa Fanning] in respect of the Dublin drainage programme.

"It's complex because, at the end of the day, the European frameworks are the European frameworks. You can't just null and void them or go past them. But certainly there is an urgent necessity. We did do stuff that people forget.

"We did gas generation very quickly. We passed emergency legislation when the CRU [Commission for Regulation of Utilities] came to us in 2021 and said: ‘We have problems’.

“The then attorney general in double quick time passed legislation to get gas generation capacity in, and to bypass certain procedures that you would otherwise have to go by."