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The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath T.D., has today (Thursday 1st October) launched the Project Ireland 2040 Annual Report for 2019, along with nine Regional Reports. The reports highlight Project Ireland 2040 achievements during 2019 and give a detailed overview of the public investments which have been made throughout the country.

Project Ireland 2040 encompasses Ireland’s National Development Plan 2018– 2027 and the National Planning Framework. Launched in 2018, it marked the first time that planning and investment have been explicitly linked in Ireland. By 2040 the population of Ireland is expected to grow by over 1 million to 5.7 million people. The successful delivery of Project Ireland 2040 is essential to securing Ireland’s economic, social and environmental sustainability over the next two decades.

Speaking at the launch, Minister McGrath said:

Promoting sustainable development in every region, town and city of our country is a key tenet of Project Ireland 2040 and I am delighted to publish these reports that clearly highlight the important infrastructure that is being delivered for all our people. The country has faced unprecedented challenges in 2020 and in the face of this adversity, the Government has re-doubled our commitment to building up our national infrastructure. Economic resilience and recovery will be built upon these solid foundations and Budget 2021 will reflect our commitment to long-term capital investment.

The impact of Covid-19 now poses fresh challenges to the delivery of infrastructure throughout Ireland. However, Ireland’s capital expenditure is now among the highest in the EU. My priority as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is to make this investment count, in terms of building up our social, economic and climate infrastructure.

This Government has signalled continued commitment to Project Ireland 2040 and to the role of capital investment, as evidenced by the recent July Stimulus where €500m of new capital expenditure was announced. These projects will act as important economic stabilisers in this challenging period for the construction sector and will support the delivery of the ten National Strategic Outcomes identified in Project Ireland 2040.

Minister McGrath said:

The new Programme for Government sets ambitious targets for modernising and indeed transforming our approach to infrastructure investment. That ambitious agenda has immediate implications for Budget 2021 and I am now actively considering these with Minister Donohoe and my colleagues in Government. When Budget 2021 is completed, I will launch the review of Ireland’s National Development Plan. As part of this review, I will be engaging with the public and with stakeholders in every part of the country. The reports I am launching today will give people the information they need to support them in this public consultation process.

The reports are available to view on gov.ie/2040 alongside myProjectIreland, an interactive map where users can view details of a variety of projects being delivered as part of Project Ireland 2040 in their local area, and the Project Ireland 2040 Tracker. The tracker reflects the portfolio of projects with estimated costs above €20m in the pipeline at present. This includes projects at all stages in the project life cycle from strategic assessment, preliminary business case, final business case, implementation and review.