McGrath: spending all of €10.8bn capital budget will be ‘challenging’

The Minister for Public Expenditure says the issue has been caused in part by the impact of the three-month construction shutdown

Michael McGrath told the Business Post that the shutdown of most construction activity for the first three months of the year undoubtedly had an impact. Picture: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Spending all of the country’s €10.8 billion capital budget this year will be “challenging”, Michael McGrath, the Minister for Public Expenditure, has warned.

McGrath said the issue has been caused in part by the impact of the three-month construction shutdown.

It comes after a €1 billion underspend in last year’s capital budget, of which €735 million was carried forward to this year while the remaining €265 million was returned to the exchequer.

Officials in the ...