Risk aversion in the public service is “holding us back”, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has said.
He indicated the Government would in future encourage public service staff to be prepared to take more risks as part of its attempt to accelerate the development of infrastructure.
Speaking at the conference of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (ACEI) in Dublin on Thursday, the Minister ruled out the possibility that the €275-billion capital spending plans could be rolled back to pay for any overruns on current expenditure by Government departments or as a result of any global economic downturn.
“Capital expenditure lines cannot be compromised by poor financial management within Government departments”, he said.
Chambers said if there were to be any economic contraction or disruption, “protecting capital expenditure is critical to Ireland’s growth path into the medium term”.
