First of all, we have not yet commenced the process of assessing what will or will not be designated, and when we designate a particular project, when it can be fast-tracked. For example, if something is at a very early stage, it does not necessarily benefit from particular designation.
Second, we are prioritising water and wastewater systems because they are critical to housing delivery in villages and towns and fo…
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
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| 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 be factual about it, we have not decided designation on any project in any area up to now. We are going to conclude the legislation, which passed this House and will pass in the Seanad in June. I am familiar with parts of the Deputy's county and indeed across the west of Ireland, the midlands and elsewhere, where people have been waiting on wastewater treatment plants for far too long. There is huge environmental …
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 69 together. We agreed a medium-term fiscal and structural plan in December of last year that provides for significant uplifts and expenditure over the coming years with gross voted spending to reach €147.3 billion by 2030. The key element of the expenditure strategy underpinning the gross voted expenditure ceilings included in the plan was the prioritisation of capital with ce…
I welcome all the people from Achill who are here and I hope they have a very good day. Both my parents from County Mayo so I always welcome everyone from that great county. We will not talk about the All-Ireland but we are still waiting-----
We will see how it gets on at the weekend. I understand the issue around the arts complex. There was extensive engagement between Dublin City Council, the Arts Council and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. We have significantly increased the capital allocation to the Department in recent years, which has to manage its overall location in that context. Part of that relates to the extent to which the…
I provide an overall allocation to different Departments, which have to prioritise within that, and that applies to the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport-----
Similarly, Dublin City Council has a very significant annual budget and has to prioritise across its objectives in any given year. The overall increase in capital expenditure and day-to-day expenditure for arts has significantly increased in recent years, and rightly so. I support the objective to continue to improve that in the years ahead but it is an issue between Dublin City Council and the Department in the cont…
They are for delivery under the National Development Finance Agency, the NDFA.
I will deal with amendments Nos. 1 and 2 in the first instance. Members have raised the climate Act, so it might be useful to address that specifically.
I will not accept these two amendments. There is a clear process for the designation of individual projects and programmes set out in the Bill, as currently drafted. The process already includes a provision that allows Dáil Éireann to reverse any Government decision…
I move:
That, notwithstanding Standing Order 222 of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business or the Resolutions of the Dáil of 17th December, 2025, 28th January, 2026 and 25th March, 2026 the following Further Revised Estimate for Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2026, be presented to the Dáil and circulated to members on 13th May, 2026 being a date later than that prescribed…
Budget 2026 set out an expenditure ceiling of €117.8 billion. This reflects a significant uplift in expenditure to support the delivery of our programme for Government commitments. Expenditure figures from March were published on 7 April as part of the fiscal monitor. This is published monthly and sets out the spending position for each ministerial Vote group. It compares expenditure to the profile set out by Departm…
To be clear, the expenditure ceiling increased to €117.8 billion, a significant expansion of public services and investment infrastructure in the economy. All I hear from the Deputy is to massively increase spending, which would significantly undermine the public finances. What we are seeking to do is moderate the overall growth in expenditure.
In regard to the Department of education, in fact, there was a significa…
There is ongoing engagement with the Department of education. No decision has been made within Government on any additional funding at this point. There is a specific demand, particularly around special education, the demand of which was bigger than the budget forecasted and allocated. We are working constructively with the Department of education on that. When that concludes, I will be able to set out the broader co…
The Critical Infrastructure Bill is a central pillar of the Government’s broader infrastructure acceleration agenda. The need for a Bill to fast-track a limited number of strategically important projects through approval processes was identified in the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan published last December.
This Bill has been drafted and introduced. It passed Second Stage only this week. Its prim…
I do not have the legislation in front of me right now but if the Deputy looks at the Bill itself, the infrastructure definition refers to State-funded projects, for example. The designation is clearly around State-funded or supported infrastructure. I hope that clarifies that point. I know it was raised; I referenced that in my closing remarks on Second Stage as well.
What we are trying to do here is remove this am…
We want to lift the passenger cap. I do not believe it is a matter for broad deference to the courts to decide on that matter. We are very clear in our objective within Government to lift the passenger cap and to grow passenger numbers at Dublin Airport. I do not believe the climate legislation should be used to undermine that. It is an economic necessity for Ireland to do that. Similarly, we have critical infrastruc…
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 targets in terms of building more homes and also to support our competitiveness.
…
I was about to say that we introduced a suite of amendments to the public works contracts to address risks relating to the price inflation of materials, fuel and energy in public works contracts. These amendments introduced a risk-share approach to price inflation of materials, fuel and energy prices. We utilise specific indices published by the Central Statistics Office which address the main input cost categories t…
We have significant immediate volatility in pricing but the inflationary context is something that takes a more sustained impact. There is still wider uncertainty on that. Next week we will publish the annual progress report, where the Department of Finance will set out updated forecasts on the inflationary environment and the predictions around that, and will also provide a scenario analysis depending on how this ev…
A special purpose vehicle is a separate legal entity established for a specific, predefined financial objective. From a public sector perspective, there can be risks with regard to long-term liabilities for defects, maintenance failures or operational issues. The Government has already taken action to address some of these risks. With respect to public works projects, SPVs are extensively used in the area of public p…
I might conclude what I was about to say. I appreciate the points the Deputy has raised. The standard form of public works contract requires the contracting authority to set a financial cap on liability. That depends on the complexity of the project. There are also number of other requirements that are designed to mitigate the risk of non-performance, including holding back a specified percentage of each interim paym…
I have had this relayed to me and we have integrated some of the OGP procurement team into the infrastructure division so that there is wider industry engagement in terms of delivery. However, it is about the balance. There is a need for a framework which attaches liability and responsibility to how contracts are delivered, while ensuring we drive competition. The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, will be publishing…
Allowing the Government to designate certain projects or programmes as critical infrastructure is the core of the Critical Infrastructure Bill. In response to a designation, all public bodies involved at any stage in the authorisation process must prioritise and accelerate the authorisation process applied to the maximum extent possible. By establishing a clear legal basis for prioritisation, the legislation will red…
As to what we have tried to do, the Deputy and others will appreciate that if we were to list a load of projects in primary legislation, there may be another project which will emerge and which is of a critical nature. The other challenge is that this particular list then gets caught in 2026. In four years, or when a future government wishes to update the national development plan, there needs to be an ability to uti…
Absolutely. What we have tried to do in the first instance is build the evidence base as to where the issues were, which we did last year. There has been strong stakeholder engagement. The report was published last July. There has been engagement with the Oireachtas committee on the challenges and the delivery gaps which exist. There has been a co-ordinated response from the stakeholder community and others in what h…