Taoiseach Brian Cowen has rebuffed criticism of the Government's capital spending plans.
Mr Cowen told business leaders the State will invest €6.5bn this year, which represents 5% of Ireland's output.
His comments come following concerns from the Construction Industry Federation that the Government needs to start new capital projects.
The Taoiseach said this represented one of the largest capital programmes among the 15 members of the eurozone.
He told the IBEC President's Dinner in Dublin's Mansion House that the money would be spent on labour intensive areas, such as school building, maintenance and energy efficiency measures.
However, Mr Cowen acknowledged that his comments were short on detail.
He said the Government was working to finalise the capital review programme and it would publish it soon.
