Capital projects get €135m

INVESTMENT:THE GOVERNMENT yesterday pledged an additional € 135 million to invest in "worthwhile and necessary" capital projects as part of its strategy.

In total € 4.6 billion has been allocated for capital expenditure in 2011, with the additional sum of € 135 million to be funded by a reallocation of €106 million from existing resources and € 29 million from the introduction of the levy on pension funds.

The funds will be invested in schools, local and regional roads and the national energy retrofitting programme. There will be an emphasis on “minor” capital works and away from new build projects as the former tend to be more employment intensive.

Given that an average of eight to 12 direct jobs are created per €1 million of capital expenditure, between 36,800 and 55,200 jobs could be expected to be generated as a result of the initiative, according to the Government. Investment in infrastructure can also lead to indirect job creation.

Schools: Some € 30 million will be made available for school works and associated works in 2011. Some € 20 million of this will be reallocated by the Minister for Education, while the additional €10 million will be made available from the proceeds of the new levy, and will be allocated to projects which are ready to be delivered by schools. The funds will be used to “enhance existing schools, address building defects and, most importantly, provide immediate, labour-intensive employment in localities throughout the country”.

The Government will also proceed with its investment in new schools, with two further public private partnership (PPP) schools bundles to be developed in areas where additional infrastructure is required post-2016.

Roads: €60 million will be reallocated to invest in surface restoration and reconstruction of some 800km of regional and local roads and will enable local authorities to bring forward projects that had been pushed back to 2012. A further € 15 million will be spent on local sustainable transport projects, such as cycle lanes and park-and-ride facilities.

Energy retrofitting: The national energy retrofitting programme, which is aimed at delivering energy savings, will receive a further € 30 million in funding in 2011. This allocation will double the funding for the retrofit home energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes in the second half of this year.