How greater collaboration can benefit the NDP

As activity increases under the NDP, the public sector must collaborate to implement new ways of working which will improve the likelihood of successful delivery.  Innovative interaction with the private sector and the removal of macro-market impediments is critical.

In brief:

• Public sector should leverage and build upon its existing capability centres to consolidate and improve infrastructure delivery.
• Achieving the NDP’s ambition will require a co-ordinated and collaborative approach across both the public and private sector to remove key impediments.
• The scale of the NDP presents an opportunity for the public service to collaborate, leverage the power of data and co-ordinate communications.
• A dedicated national infrastructure body could help create synergies, improve efficiency and prevent competition between projects from impairing delivery performance.

Review to renew:  2021 National Development Plan

The €116 billion National Development Plan (NDP) was originally due to run from 2018 to 2027. The plan has now been extended to 2030 and the Government has undertaken a comprehensive review which aimed to reassess investment plans, update project costings and highlight any new issues which needed to be taken into account to ensure that it meets the objectives of the Programme for Government, and to take into consideration the continuing impacts of and recovery from Covid-19.

The first phase of that review process is now complete and has resulted in the Review of the National Development Plan report published in April by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

The second phase of the process will see the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform lead a strategic dialogue with other Government Departments with the aim of agreeing new five year rolling capital allocations as well as overall 10 year capital ceilings for the duration of the NDP.

The Phase 1 report followed a public consultation process which generated 572 submissions. EY availed of the opportunity to contribute to the review and made a submission covering a wide range of areas including the proposed level of expenditure, areas of focus, prioritising projects, management and governance, communication dimensions, leveraging data and structural changes.

This is the second and concluding article covering EY Ireland’s submission to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s review of the €116 billion National Development Plan (NDP). In the first article we dealt with expenditure levels and investment priorities. In this article we focus on delivery of the Programme and look at management and governance, leveraging data, the communications aspects of the plan, and the need to consider a national infrastructure body to coordinate efforts.

Management and governance

The responsibility for managing and delivering capital investment is widely dispersed across the public sector. This has resulted in varying degrees of capability across the sectors and bodies involved.  There are a small number of State bodies which are asset delivery specialists whom have higher levels of capability and, where possible, their expertise should be utilised to manage major projects and programmes. 

Areas for attention in order to improve management and governance of capital projects include investment in programme set-up; investment in the skills and leadership capability of people; and developing expertise in technology and sustainability.  As activity increases, many entities will need leverage the existing capability within the public service and develop the desired level of internal competencies.

Greater commitment to the supply chain is also required. Private suppliers of goods and services are critical to the delivery of all public sector projects. Procurement and contracting strategies which promote the realisation of mutual and sustainable value should be adopted.  These strategies include procuring and managing projects in a more collaborative way; adopting partnership-based approaches to risk allocation; committing to a pipeline of projects to help remove the cyclical nature of the construction economy; and reducing the cost of bidding.

Impediments to major infrastructure projects must also be addressed. Amendments to the planning system should be made, particularly in relation to the rights to judicial review, environmental authorisations, serial objectors who are not directly affected and permissions required where projects are included within local area plans.

Leveraging Data

The scale of the NDP presents an opportunity for the public service to collaborate to attain synergies, learn from mistakes and achieve continuous improvement.  This will require structures and supports to be put in place to facilitate data sharing in a seamless manner. Identifying, collecting and managing data (such as inflation budget risk premiums, etc.) through collaboration could also help improve the overall reliability of the NDP outcome.

Detailed data on private sector investment activity should also be collected and published on a regular basis to ensure there is an understanding of the type and location of investment being undertaken. This is particularly important in understanding the regional priorities for public capital investment.  

The Communications Dimension

Strong support from the general public is required for the successful delivery of largescale infrastructure, a co-ordinated national communications and public relations strategy is critical for such an ambitious programme.

Public communications relating to projects of national importance too often focus on the financial cost of delivery and timelines. A greater focus on project outcomes and the anticipated associated social benefits needs to be encouraged. Advertising campaigns related to ongoing and future projects should aim to increase positive public sentiment.

Dedicated National Infrastructure Body

There are good examples in other jurisdictions where delivery of programmes like the NDP is largely concentrated within a single, dedicated national infrastructure body.  These bodies function as a ‘one stop shop’ where they align the State’s objectives across sectors, improve accountability, provide independent and objective assurance, improve delivery performance, bring a focus to innovation and co-ordinate responses to industry wide challenges.

We believe the establishment of an Irish infrastructure unit to optimise investment in medium to large scale infrastructure projects, could be of great benefit to the country and warrants further consideration.