COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, September 08, 2025
QUESTION NO. 3
QUESTION: Councillor C. Brady
To ask the Chief Executive what oversight is in place for capital project review, including what framework, if any, is used to trigger a project review, who initiates it, who sets the scope, and whether the resulting reports and findings are shared with members?
REPLY:
There are a number of frameworks for capital project oversight
- The Infrastructure Guidelines (effective since December 2023, updated June 2025) have replaced the Public Spending Code’s capital appraisal rules. They define a 3-gate approval process: Strategic Assessment & Preliminary Business Case, Pre-tender design/procurement strategy, and Final Business Case.
- Key roles under the Guidelines:
- Sponsoring Agency: Manages delivery, business case, planning, procurement, implementation, and review.
- Approving Authority: Usually the funding Government Department with responsibility for approving project stages.
- Accounting Officer: Senior Department official accountable for safeguarding public funds.
- Major projects (over €200?million) require external assurance, input from a Major Projects Advisory Group, and Government approval at Gate?1 and Gate?3.
- Specific sectors have more tailored oversight: e.g., Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is the approving authority for major roads and greenway projects; it aligns oversight to these Infrastructure Guidelines and manages regional delivery and expenditure tracking.
Under the Public spending code A return is completed each year by South Dublin County Council and submitted to NOAC on all Capital Projects over €500,000. All reports are published on SDCC website and can be found here. https://sdcc.ie/en/services/business/procurement/public-spending-code-2024/public-spending-code-2024.html
The Council has a budget monitoring system that systematically tracks the financial performance of projects against their planned budgets to identify variances, risks, and opportunities. This involves regularly comparing budget figures to actual results and taking corrective action to address discrepancies, ensuring funds are used effectively, and maintaining accountability for financial plans. Budgets are updated as projects progress through the 3-gate approval process and as project variations are approved by senior management. The Chief Executive provides members with a quarterly update on the progress of major capital works