Each year the expenditure report seeks to improve on previous iterations to refine and improve the approach used to present budget day figures. The expenditure report for 2026 provides a more detailed description of the budget package components than in previous years, in the table set out on page 12. There have been many alternative approaches in the past and work on the best way to present each year's budget will b…
TDs / Jack Chambers
Jack Chambers
Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
152,394
words spoken in the chamber
146,472 as a minister, 5,922 as a TD
358
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 720 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 57 |
| March 2025 | 2 |
| April 2025 | 36 |
| May 2025 | 52 |
| June 2025 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 90 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 11 |
| November 2025 | 109 |
| December 2025 | 69 |
| January 2026 | 1 |
| February 2026 | 44 |
| March 2026 | 0 |
| April 2026 | 37 |
| May 2026 | 44 |
| June 2026 | 1 |
| July 2026 | 60 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 80 |
| October 2026 | 25 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 658 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform 23 January 2025 to 4 June 2025
- office Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation 5 June 2025 to now
To take the Deputy's business model analogy, businesses do not do ELS as he has sought in his question. Businesses look at the totality of expenditure and to drive better delivery, better outputs and better efficiency in terms of the totality of spend. That is exactly what we are seeking to do in how we framed and delivered budget 2026. That is where the weaknesses of existing levels of service are identified and we …
That is obviously a separate issue to the existing levels of service in the Deputy's question. What we have set out is a new national development plan and a new way of delivering infrastructure in the economy. We have a series of reforms we are advancing through 2026 which are about accelerating wider delivery but also responding to the evidence, which is there, that too many of the systems are cumbersome, slow and d…
As part of the budgetary process each year, my Department sets overall expenditure ceilings for each ministerial Vote group. These are laid out in the budget day expenditure report, with further detail provided in the Revised Estimates published in December.
Following the allocation of each expenditure ceiling, each Minister designs the programmes and subhead level across Departments and the agencies under their rem…
I acknowledge the particular issue that exists. I meet with many constituents from both Tyrrelstown and Hollystown, where the bus service does need to be much improved. There has been a significant increase in housing supply in Tyrrelstown and Hollystown, but there is a need to improve the service for the sake of many of the existing residents. Part of the BusConnects plan is to deliver that, which is obviously more …
There have been issues for people in Hollystown. Some even have quite a long walk to get to the existing bus stop. There is a need to improve the existing service but also to reflect the feedback people have given in respect of the various bus routes. Like the Deputy, I will engage with the National Transport Authority on some of the amendments that need to be made to the bus routes and in the context of reflecting t…
I thank Deputy Neville. In December 2025, the Government published the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. It is a comprehensive programme of actions designed to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State. This action plan responds to well-documented challenges of lengthy development timelines, fragmented processes and rising costs. These have all been identified as major barrie…
I will go into that detail shortly.
I agree with everything the Deputy said and I appreciate his inputs at the infrastructure committee as well. There are well-documented issues with the existing culture, which has been too risk averse, leading to delays and cost increases. It is too process driven. It is about putting a delivery culture and delivery focus first. That means increasing risk appetite, but also taking practical steps, for example, carryin…
It is about having a clear, greater and more proportionate risk appetite statement for many infrastructure decisions. Ultimately we are measured on delivery and it is a process-driven approach. We have circular analysis and delays that will not narrow the infrastructure gap, which is well documented. The risk appetite statement will set out the expected benefits for delivery for a Department or agency, and how the as…
I thank Deputy Connolly and I appreciate his support on this. My Department is responsible for the infrastructure guidelines, which replaced the public spending code for capital appraisal since the end of 2023. These set the value for money requirements and guidance for evaluating, planning and managing Exchequer-funded capital projects. Management and delivery of investment projects and public services within alloca…
On Deputy Connolly's first point, this is removing an unnecessary middle step which was adding time. The critical points are approval of the preliminary business case, which sets the political direction for a project to be advanced with prospective capital spend, and final approval for a contract award, which involves the respective Minister. Again, it removes a middle step which did not provide value and just added …
We have taken every step in the infrastructure life cycle and tried to cut time. The Deputy referenced transport and water. We have the joint utilities and transport clearing house. That reflects those key sectors which build the foundations of any community in terms of water, energy and transport infrastructure. Improving co-ordination in how that wider infrastructure is delivered is part of that objective. All the …
I propose to take Questions Nos. 13, 28, 61, 77 and 83 together.
My Department will be managing the monitoring and reporting on delivery of the actions in the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan, which will be led within the infrastructure division. The action plan details 30 headline actions for delivery by quarter and sets target outputs and outcomes to be achieved. All lead Departments have continu…
We are essentially reducing the number of approval steps from three to two. The critical approval role of a Minister is after the preliminary business case. It is about putting discipline on how a preliminary business case is designed. In many instances, the administrative timelines taken for preliminary business cases are far too excessive. We are trying to put much greater discipline on that in terms of the wider p…
We engage daily with the infrastructure team in the Department and the infrastructure division. According to the latest update, everything has been delivered in quarter 4 and we are on track with respect to the actions set for quarter 1 of this year. We are working in parallel to ensure steps or actions that are required in quarters 2 and 3 are being worked on as well if they have timelines in the middle of the year …
I thank Members of the House for the opportunity to provide an update on the Government’s work to accelerate infrastructure delivery, and to discuss my Department’s role in the management and delivery of capital projects and programmes. In particular, I will outline some of the recent and ongoing developments in my Department, as we implement the actions contained in the accelerating infrastructure action plan which …
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it is something he has raised on many other occasions in relation to the Appropriation Bill. In terms of the wider practice, it is a Vote listed under my Department and it is also a Vote that can be used by other Government Departments in the context of the fund during the particular year. It is the only Vote operated in which the Oireachtas has waived its right to kn…
I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh. My understanding is that when auditing the secret service Vote, the Comptroller and Auditor General does not examine it in detail or comment on it for the Oireachtas. Instead, his office departs from the usual certification regarding the correctness of accounts and simply certifies that the amount shown in the account is supported by respective certification by the responsible Ministers. Th…
The wider structure of the Vote is still a matter-----
I am informed "Acht Leithghabhála" is not the correct citation in Irish for the Bill. What has been used since 1923, which is the Short Title of the Bill, is the correct one.
More generally, I defer to the Deputy's interest and knowledge of the language. When I was Minister for the Gaeltacht, he showed a interest in and passion for it, and I respect that. We obviously have a thread here, whereby this has been in con…
I move: "That the Bill be now read a second time."
I am pleased to introduce the Appropriation Bill. The Bill is an important annual financial legislative instrument which must be enacted before the end of the year in order to give effect to the authorisation of voted expenditure through 2025 and to allow for the continuation of expenditure into 2026.
The Bill has two primary functions. The first is to provide lega…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Farrell. Last week, the Government published the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. It is a comprehensive programme of actions designed to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State. This action plan responds to well-documented challenges of lengthy development timelines, fragmented processes and rising costs. These have all been identified as m…
The first aspect is on the actions which relate to reform and the majority of them fall in 2026. We have tried to front-load the interventions and actions we make so we can see the benefits of having legal reform, regulatory reform and simplification, better co-ordination delivery and improved public acceptance. They are the four areas identified. Most of those are to be progressed in 2026. We have already set out th…
We have fronted up an investment and taking the investment profile over the next five years, it means we will be one of the biggest investors in infrastructure per capita in Europe and have about 5% GNI*. We have responded to that around the investment piece. However, there is a well-documented need and an evidence base to drive reform and infrastructure delivery and that is why there needs to be much more balance ar…