John Cummins
Waterford · Fine Gael · Ireland
“To ensure a structured and comprehensive examination of the issues, the task force was organised under four work themes: structures, funding, functions and governance and accountability within the local government sector.”
“At the outset, I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for raising this important issue this morning. I am acutely aware of the strong interest that exists within this House in matters relating to local government.”
“Engagement took place with a wide range of organisations and representative bodies, including employer and employee representatives, community and voluntary organisations, academic experts and other key stakeholders.”
“I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2026, Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2026, Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No.”
“In that context, I welcome the opportunity to address the House and to provide an update on the progress made today in advancing that recommendation and strengthening local democracy more generally.”
“The task force was charged with delivering its report within the challenging timeframe of six to nine months. However, considerable preparatory work already completed across the sector provided a strong foundation and enabled that timeline to be achieved. The task force, as the Senator rightly pointed out, was chaired by Mr.”
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“Our investment in enterprise level electronic health record systems at the new national children’s hospital will result in the hospital itself being born digital. From day one, every child attending the new hospital will have a digital health record created for them. Their health information will be managed electronically. This means clinicians will have immediate access to accurate and up-to-date information no matter where they are working or where the patient is located. As a result, delays in diagnosis and treatment will be reduced. Repeat tests and wasted time will also be cut. Capturing data in digital form and providing parents with better access to that information will allow them to be more empowered to participate in the care provided to their own child.”
“These are all the things that are being discussed with my officials at the moment. I want to strike the balance in supporting towns and villages in rural areas while at the same time enabling rural one-off housing, where appropriate, in settings across the country.”
“The Senator mentioned "within reason" and that is appropriate. I have tried to introduce in the Department a common-sense and practical approach to planning in everything that I have done. On rural policy, I absolutely will ensure that we continue to support the development of rural one-off housing, as is happening around the country at present, but we must strike a balance. I am from Waterford city and I do not believe that I should be able to go out into mid-County Waterford or west Waterford, buy a greenfield plot of land and build a brand new house. Of course I can go there and take a vacant or derelict property and turn it into my home. Of course there are areas of the country where, by virtue of somebody being born within a certain delineated line, that they are not able to go outside of it, particularly in smaller settlements.”
“In addition, my Department is focused on supporting the provision of the necessary infrastructure to enable housing development across the country, not least in the area of developer-provided infrastructure, on which a memo went to Cabinet a couple of weeks ago, to be able to facilitate development in those smaller population settlements that have not been able to develop over the last number of years.”
“I highlight that, notwithstanding the need for updated rural housing guidance to address issues relating to consistency of policy application, planning permission has been granted for almost 6,000 one-off houses, on average, every year since 2020. One-off houses have comprised 20% of housing completions over the past five years, with an average of 5,200 completed per annum. Furthermore, my Department is a key participant in the development of the new Our Rural Future policy, which will take effect from 2026. My Department also regularly engages with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht on matters relating to rural areas.”
“The national planning statement will replace the current rural housing planning guidelines which date from 2005 and will continue to enable development plans to provide for housing in rural areas. This will be balanced with the need to manage development in certain areas, including areas around cities and larger towns and environmentally sensitive areas. The development of this new national planning statement is a priority for Government, recognising that, nationally, rural housing continues to be an important component of overall new housing delivery. The vast majority of one-off houses - well in excess of 90% - are built in rural settings.”
“Where there are disproportionate waiting lists in certain parts of the country, we are committed to addressing that through the HSE service plan, which the HSE is responsible for bringing forward. It is the Government's responsibility to ensure the funding is put in place and it is the HSE's responsibility to ensure that adequate provision is provided across the country to ensure people can remain in their homes, as is their requirement, and to ensure we free up capacity within acute settings as well. I will take the points the Deputy has made back to the Minister for Health.”
“As I said in my opening statement, budget 2026 will increase the number of hours provided for home support to 26.7 million, which is significantly more than what was provided in 2025. Nonetheless, I acknowledge the points the Deputy has raised. The Minister of State with responsibility for older persons and housing, Deputy O'Donnell, is committed to ensuring that where there are gaps in provision, including in County Clare as the Deputy has pointed out, they will be addressed through the national service plan which the HSE will bring forward. There is no question that areas of rural Ireland should not be disadvantaged in terms of home support - or any other service for that matter - that is provided by the State.”
“The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has specified that home support waiting lists must be addressed through the HSE's upcoming national service plan.”
“A number of initiatives are under way to focus on the recruitment and retention of HCAs to provide home support in areas where additional home support staff are required. Additionally, at a national level the HSE has developed a HCA career hub spotlight piece which highlights the role of HCAs who provide home support, the training required and the benefits associated with working for the HSE. It also offers contact details for local home support services as well as information on how to join the career hub to receive job updates. The Minister of State with responsibility for older people and housing, Deputy O'Donnell, is fully committed to addressing waiting lists for home support, with a focus on those regions that are disproportionately affected.”
“Where there are waiting lists for home support, priority is given to those in the community with acute needs and those assessed and waiting in acute hospitals who are able to return home with support. Higher waiting lists are known to be directly related to the availability of carers in the region. The Government has recognised the importance of addressing recruitment and retention for the sector and is continuing to work to deliver on the recommendations of the strategic workforce advisory group on home carers and nursing home health care assistants. The HSE has also reported that it is carrying out regional rolling recruitment campaigns in line with the pay and numbers strategy across the health regions.”
“Under budget 2026, the HSE will be funded to increase the target to €26.7 million next year. In the Clare and Limerick integrated healthcare area, at the end of September 2024 the HSE reported that 1.034 million hours of home support had been delivered. This is 2.1% ahead of the target for the year to date, and nearly 48,000 more hours than the number of hours delivered in the same period last year, which is an increase of nearly 5%. However, although supply of home support hours has increased, the waiting list does remain persistent in some parts of the country, including County Clare. The HSE reports that, as of September 2025, the waiting list in County Clare stood at 340 people. Some 93 people are waiting for their home support package to commence, while the other 247 people were waiting for receipt of additional home support hours.”
“I thank Deputy McGettigan very much for raising this important matter, to which I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Health. Improving access to home support is a priority for the Government. The overall budget for home support in 2025 is circa €838 million. This is the largest allocation ever for home support. It is an increase of nearly €122 million on the previous year and an increase of over 70% when compared to the 2020 budget of €487 million. We are on track to exceed the target of 24 million home support hours, excluding complex home support, for this year. At the end of September, we delivered 1.3 million more hours than by the end of September 2024. We have already exceeded the year-end target to support over 60,000 people at any one time.”
“I assure the Deputy that this is something the Department will keep a close eye on, as we want to see this project completed and the pool opened as quickly as possible.”
“The positives I take from the response that I have put on the record of the House is that a new contractor has now been appointed in order to complete the works. That is very important. In terms of swimming more generally, the 2024 to 2027 strategy sets out an important vision in order to try to increase participation and take-up of people in learning what is a very valuable life skill, as close to their communities as possible. The Government will continue to put additional funding behind the swim strategy. Some €1.5 million has been allocated for the period 2025 to 2026. The governing body, Swim Ireland, is currently undertaking an analysis of the overall ownership structure of swimming pools across the country that will feed in to future projects.”
“I thank Deputy Gogarty. It is obviously an exceptionally important project for his area that he has campaigned for over a significant period of time. I acknowledge the people that were previously involved, including his own dad, as he mentioned. Sport is really important, as are pools. I come from a sporting background myself in that I am a qualified physical education teacher. I understand the importance of having good quality sports infrastructure in all of our communities right across the country. As I said in my opening statement - it speaks to some of the frustration the Deputy has outlined - of the 52 pool projects under the local authority swimming pool projects, only one of them remains uncompleted, and that is Lucan swimming pool.”
“I am informed that South Dublin County Council is actively working to advance the project and ensure delivery of the facility for the people of the area. A tender process for appointing a replacement contractor is complete and a preferred bidder has been identified and notified. This step is critical to progressing the project and completing the remaining works. The newly appointed contractor will assume responsibility for co-ordinating all remaining works which will include finalising the swimming pool element of the development. Following the conclusion of the contractual arrangements, an updated project completion date will be communicated publicly. This will provide clarity and certainty to the community regarding the timeframe for opening the leisure centre and swimming pool complex.”
“These facilities were subsequently opened to the public on 28 July 2025. In relation to the funding provided to Lucan swimming pool, the Department, as the Deputy rightly states, provided a grant aid allocation of €3.8 million from the LASPP to South Dublin County Council, which is responsible for delivery of the policy. Formal approval for the grant was provided in 2019. To date, the Department has paid out €3.2 million to South Dublin County Council for the ongoing construction works on Lucan swimming pool. South Dublin County Council has confirmed that the construction programme for Lucan leisure campus was impacted, as the Deputy said, by supply chain issues, Covid and the war in Ukraine. Since then, various other factors have contributed to project delays.”
“The 2018 round awarded €124 million to 33 projects, including top-ups in 2023. In November 2024, €173 million was allocated to 35 projects following record demand. An allocation of €28.9 million was made to nine swimming pool projects. In addition, the CSFF has provided allocations in excess of €5 million over the last ten years to swimming projects. Previously, the local authority swimming pool programme, LASPP, provided grant aid towards the capital costs of new swimming pools or the refurbishment of existing pools. Fifty-two pools have been completed and just one swimming pool project, Lucan, remains in the programme. Lucan swimming pool is currently under construction. I note that South Dublin County Council handed over the dry-side facilities, including the gym, to the appointed operator on 22 July 2025.”
“The construction and day-to-day operation of swimming pools is a matter for the respective local authority in the first instance. The Department operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely the community sports facilities fund, CSFF, and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. Over €250 million was allocated to 3,048 community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 from the 2023 round of the CSFF, representing the largest ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland. The LSSIF was established under the 2018 national sports policy to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects, typically those requiring investments greater than the maximum available under the CSFF. A total of €297 million has been invested through the LSSIF across 68 projects.”
“I thank Deputy Gogarty for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan. Government investment in sport is essential to increase participation levels in all sports across all sectors of society. The allocation for the sports programme in budget 2026 is over €290 million, an increase of just under €60 million or 26% compared to the 2025 allocation. When the national sports policy was published in 2018, it set a commitment to double investment in sport to more than €220 million by 2027. Obviously, we are significantly ahead of that already. With regard to the development of physical sports infrastructure, the role of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport is to provide capital funding for such facilities, including swimming pools.”
“The Deputy has articulated very well the importance of this service to her community in Louth and the entire north-east area of the country. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to ensure the continued roll-out of the neuro-rehabilitation strategy, and community teams form a critical element of that. Budget 2026 has invested significant additional moneys in this area. That will have to be reflected in the HSE national service plan. There is a commitment to focus on the areas that do not have a team and to expand the areas that have only partial teams in place. Again, I will take the points the Deputy raised back to the Minister for Health.”
“Moving forward with the neuro-rehabilitation strategy, the aim is to enhance the existing CNRTs and fund those areas that do not have a community team to create a large population-based team within each regional health area. A substantial amount of additional funding was provided for the continued implementation of the neuro-rehabilitation strategy in budget 2026. The details will be set out in the national service plan in 2026, which is due to be published shortly. I take on board the points the Deputy has raised on behalf of her communities in the north east in relation to the absence of a team in her area. I will take back what she said to the Minister for Health.”
“Specialist neuro-rehabilitation services being established under the neuro-rehabilitation strategy will provide earlier access to specialist rehabilitation that improves people's outcomes, reducing their neuro-rehabilitation needs, enhancing function and reducing the supports required as they transition back into their communities. As part of the strategy, the HSE is in the process of expanding the number of community neuro-rehabilitation teams across the country. The current position is that in 2025 four new teams have been recruited and will be operational this year. Some areas have partial teams in place but some areas, including Dublin and the north-east regional health area, have no teams in place currently.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. It gives me an opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for Health. The neuro-rehabilitation strategy implementation framework was launched in February 2019. The overarching aim of the strategy is the development of neuro-rehabilitation services to improve outcomes for people by providing safe, high-quality, person-centred neuro-rehabilitation at the lowest appropriate level of complexity. Services must be integrated across the care pathway and provided as close to home as possible.”
“If we are to invest significant sums of taxpayers' money in remediating these properties, we have to ensure there is effective governance in place in all those complexes. The last thing we want to see is money being poured into something and for it either not to be improved to the level it needs to be or to be misused in some other way. This money, which is taxpayers' money, will be ring-fenced to improve apartments and duplexes that were impacted between 1991 and 2013. The report in 2022 estimated that up to 100,000 units could be impacted, not just in Dublin but right across the country. We therefore have to get this right, and I am sure all Members will contribute to that.”
“Owners and renters deserve better. There is no question that these properties should not have been built to the standard that they were. They should have been built to a higher standard; that is a given. That is why the Government has committed to putting a significant remediation scheme in place to support the owners and renters in those properties to improve them and bring them up to an acceptable standard. The Minister, Deputy Browne, has continually met with stakeholders in this area. He is committed to progressing the overall legislation that will provide for this. As I mentioned, officials were before the Oireachtas joint committee recently. We have to get this right, however, and owner management companies are a critical component of this.”
“The Housing Agency will oversee the process, ensuring OMCs receive the funding necessary to carry out these remedial works. It will work with the companies through the application process. In addition, an effective advice and information service within the agency has been established to provide support for OMCs. In principle, full funding will be provided for all eligible works necessary to achieve an acceptable level of fire safety in each building. To ensure value for money and good governance regarding Exchequer funding, appropriate terms and conditions will apply to such funding, outlined in the grant agreement.”
“Pending the introduction of the statutory scheme, the interim remediation scheme has been established to provide for funding of emergency fire safety defect works to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings until full remedial works can be completed. This scheme, which is being administered by the Housing Agency on a nationwide basis, is open to applications from apartment owner management companies, OMCs, via the Housing Agency's website. Given their status under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 and the key role they play in management of the apartment sector, OMCs have been identified from an early stage as being an essential ingredient to ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of this remediation scheme.”
“This legislation will establish supports for the remediation of these defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. Given the complexity of the issues, including the significant amount of Exchequer funding that this Government has committed to assisting affected homeowners, sufficient time is required to ensure that the scheme is fit for purpose, provides value for money for taxpayers and contains appropriate oversight and governance measures. Indeed, good progress has been made with Department officials attending a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage yesterday evening to begin the process of pre-legislative scrutiny.”
“I thank the Deputy very much for raising this important matter. It gives me the opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Government fully understands and acknowledges the difficulties that homeowners and residents of many apartments and duplexes are facing and the stress that is caused when defects arise in their properties. The Government is committed to helping those whose lives have been impacted by this issue. As the Deputy is aware and mentioned, the Department is, as a matter of priority, preparing legislation to put in place a statutory remediation scheme for owners of certain apartments affected by fire safety, water ingress and structural defects.”
“Unfortunately, given the state of the circumstances that face us at the moment, it is not appropriate to be able to intervene.”
“As I said in my opening reply, I have great sympathy for those who are trying to purchase homes here and across the country. That is why the Government is putting supports in place like the one the Deputy mentioned, to support homebuyers in purchasing their first home. I would love to be able to solve this matter for the individuals and families in question. As he will appreciate, contractual and legal frameworks govern the purchase of properties and have to be followed. This is a matter in respect of which a legal process is ongoing. As a result, unfortunately, as Minister of State I am not in a position to be able to intervene. I want these families to be able to be in their homes as much as the Deputy does. From a departmental perspective, we are keeping a close eye on proceedings and what is happening here in this particular instance.”
“Notwithstanding the State support provided, the matter remains a private contractual and legal one between the homebuyers and the developer in question. Accordingly, it would be inappropriate for me as Minister of State or for the Government to intervene, especially when the appropriate legal processes are under way.”
“As I am sure the Deputy will understand, this matter is subject to an ongoing legal process and I understand the developer company is appointing a liquidator. Accordingly, I am constrained in what I can say on the matter. While I certainly share the understandable concerns of the Deputy and the families concerned, there are clear laws of contract and legal frameworks governing the purchase of houses that should be enforced. I am aware State support has been drawn upon by both the homebuyers and developer concerned. I understand help to buy was used by some of the homebuyers to support the purchase, while the developer drew down loan funding from Home Building Finance Ireland to help finance the development, debt I am given to understand has been repaid.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very distressing situation for the homebuyers who entered into contracts and indeed paid significant deposits for the purchase of 16 homes at Ringfort development in Rathmolyon, County Meath. I have read news reports as recently as this morning about this case. My deepest sympathies go out to those families. I understand the frustration they are facing. For many of us, buying a new home is a dream. It is an aspiration for all families. The Government is committed to ensuring such aspirations can be realised. That is why we published the Government housing action plan last week, which commits to delivery of 300,000 homes to the end of 2030, including 90,000 starter home supports.”
“While they must ensure, obviously, that those properties are to an acceptable standard as per the regulations, if it is a weigh-up option between going over and above what is required and taking an extra 20 weeks to do so or doing what is required under the regulations and getting someone into that property at a time of such need, for me, the latter is my priority and that of the Minister, Deputy Browne. It is a message that I am delivering and will continue to deliver in local authorities around this country because it is what the public and politicians in this House and chambers around the country expect. I will support them in that.”
“I thank the Senator for his remarks. I appreciate them. As he knows, it is an area I know well from my 11 years having served on local authorities and the five years I sat on the Oireachtas joint committee with the Senator. I am being honest here. The performance by some local authorities in this space is unacceptable to me as Minister of State. I have had the honest and frank conversations. I have called out the best and worst performers in that NOAC report, but there are plenty in the middle as well that also need to up their game because an average relay time of 35 weeks at a time of such need for the public outside of these Houses of the Oireachtas is unacceptable. Local authorities have to drive efficiencies and performance in this space. They need to reduce their relay times.”
“Some €10 million has been ring-fenced for local authorities to commence and continue this transition from a largely response and voids-based approach to a planned maintenance approach based on planned work programmes informed by stock condition surveys. Given the significant level of funding over recent years, the vast majority of legacy vacancy issues should be addressed at this stage. Accordingly, local authorities should be better positioned to address casual vacancies and further transition to that planned approach to housing maintenance. We will continue to support local authorities in those endeavours in the time ahead.”
“The NOAC performance indicators report for 2024 bears out this fact. It simply should not be the case that local authorities in Roscommon, Monaghan and Carlow are able to re-let local authority homes in under 16 weeks while local authorities such as those in Limerick, Kerry and Louth take over a year. The average re-letting time now stands at 35 weeks nationally and I am sure the Senator agrees that this must reduce. Every local authority has a responsibility in this area. The funding that has been provided in the past decade or so has tackled a large number of long-term vacant stock and brought those properties back into use, paving the way for the transition to a more appropriate approach to housing maintenance, which is the planned maintenance approach the Senator referenced.”
“There is no upper cap on the amount that can be spent per home, providing the total amount averaged across all homes submitted by local authorities does not exceed €11,000. Where a local authority chooses to do works over and above those that are necessary to comply with statutory rental standards, it invariably impacts relay times and increases costs for the local authority. At a time of such need, this approach must be interrogated by local authority members. In my work as Minister of State with responsibility for planning and local government, this is an area on which I place significant focus. Being frank, there are unacceptable discrepancies in local authority performance in this area. I have had some frank and honest conversations with executive teams in local authorities around the country.”
“This year alone, some €31 million was provided, targeting the turnaround of 1,900 social homes. The programme focuses on the prompt turnaround and re-letting of vacant homes. It supports only those works necessary to comply with the housing standards for rented houses guidelines 2019. Non-essential works are not supported and should be carried out under the local authority's own planned maintenance programme, informed by stock condition surveys where all housing components are on an inspection, repair and replacement cycle. Local authority officials and elected members must ensure there is adequate funding provision for repairs and cyclical maintenance, using the significant rental income available to them, as part of their annual budgetary process.”
“I thank Senator Boyhan for raising what is an important matter. The programme for Government, as he rightly pointed out, commits to introducing a new programme to support the effective and speedy turnaround of vacated local authority social homes. My Department has been working on this matter and I expect a new programme that will further support the transition to a planned maintenance approach and the quicker turnaround of casual vacancies, to be rolled out early in the new year. The new programme will build on the strong progress made in tackling local authority vacancy levels. This was supported and enabled by significant Exchequer funding in the past ten years, particularly since 2020. More than €360 million has been provided to local authorities since 2014, supporting the refurbishment and re-letting of some 26,000 social homes.”
“It is an important matter. I am aware of people in my constituency of Waterford who avail of partial capacity benefit. It is there to support people who are looking to return to the work environment even though they have had or continue to have significant challenges. It is an appropriate scheme. I will feed back the points the Senator made about three-week window, but I again stress that the Department will look at any individual case on an exceptional basis. The purpose of it being front-loaded is to try to ensure that constituents have certainty when they re-enter the workforce and that they do so in the full knowledge of what their entitlements are. That is a positive on the front end, but I acknowledge that the Senator is referencing the challenges that could exist on the back end.”
“I appreciate the points she made about the three-week timeframe but, as she will have seen from my response on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Calleary, the review conducted in 2021 shows that there was only one claim outside this window, and they can be looked at on an exceptional basis. If the Senator has any individual cases, I am sure the Minister would be willing to look at them.”
“It enables a person to remain eligible for partial capacity benefit for three weeks after they start employment. However, the deciding officers may award partial capacity benefit outside of this application window in exceptional circumstances. An internal audit conducted in 2021 revealed that only one person who had applied for partial capacity benefit was outside this application window. I am pleased to say that the average length of time for the award of the partial capacity benefit claim is now under three weeks, which is well inside the targeted processing times for this support. I thank the Senator for raising this important matter.”
“There is a two-stage application process involved. The applicant first notifies the Department of their intent to take up employment and applies for partial capacity benefit. The Department will determine whether the applicant is eligible, and if so, at what level the partial capacity benefit will be paid. Once that decision is made, the applicant must then confirm that they wish to proceed on that basis and confirm the date their employment is commencing. The partial capacity benefit team will then put the relevant payment in place. The purpose of this is to allow a person to make a claim for partial capacity benefit in advance of the intended date of commencement of employment. It is also to allow a person to plan and organise their finances and decide if they want to start work. The three-week window allows for late applications.”
“If a person's disability is rated as mild, they will not be entitled to partial capacity benefit. There are no restrictions on earnings from employment or the number of hours worked under the partial capacity benefit scheme. There is, however, a requirement under legislation that people must claim their entitlement within a specific period from the date on which the entitlement arises. In the case of partial capacity benefit, this is set out in section 241(2)(ba) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, which sets out the position "where the claim is made before the person commences employment, in respect of any period more than 13 weeks before such commencement" or "where the claim is made after the person commences employment, in respect of any period more than 3 weeks after such commencement".”
“I thank Senator Costello for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Calleary. Partial capacity benefit is a social welfare scheme that is open to people who are in receipt of invalidity pension or illness benefit for more than six months, and who have a reduced work capacity. The scheme allows them to work or return to employment or self-employment while retaining a portion of their previous payment. The personal rate of payment of partial capacity benefit is based on a medical assessment of a person's restriction regarding their capacity for work. After the medical assessment, if a person's disability is rated as moderate, severe or profound, their payment continues at 50%, 75% or 100% percent of their existing rate, respectively.”
“The Senator has rightly pointed out the limitations of the existing facility in Rathdowney, such as its poor layout and the additional requirements from a welfare perspective for staff given the additional crewing elements. Laois County Council has now indicated this is its priority one project for the capital programme that will run from 2026 to 2030. It has the site the Senator identified, which will be a better site to allow for tenders to navigate the streets. I can assure the Senator my officials will work with Laois County Council to progress its identified priority infrastructural projects within the context of the totality of the budget that will be available for the 2026 to 2030 programme. We are working on that within the Department and what the capital envelope will be for that programme.”