Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----in the final determination and so on.

It would be odd to set a ceiling by statutory instrument and then alter it a month later. All the budgetary arithmetic happens on the night of the budget. We lay out the fiscal parameters and both the expenditure and taxation sides are done.

With regard to regulation, the multi-annual ceiling expenditure will be set out as part of the expenditure report, which will be placed before the House alongside the budget. This will happen this year and in every year going forward. It is not proposed to set ceilings through the use of a statutory instrument for the reasons I have just outlined. The departmental expenditure ceilings are decided by the Government and will be laid before the House and published, as is normal. Reconciliation tables will also be published alongside any revision of the ceilings to show details of any and all changes.

In discussing the previous amendment, I have already referred to the new approach to whole-of-year budgeting, which we have tried to bring in. This will facilitate a much greater ex-antediscussion of expenditure, including all the matters the Deputy is talking about. Regularly examining expenditure ceilings and how we are going can all be encompassed in the committee system working more effectively. That is something we will see in future.

The approach we are proposing in this legislation is analogous to that used for capital ceilings, which has been shown to work successfully. The multi-annual capital ceilings have been in place for a number of years. They do not require the use of regulations to set ceilings. In essence, it is a balance between proper oversight and transparency and practical administrative purposes. That is what we aim to achieve with our proposals. In that regard, therefore, I do not think that Deputy Fleming's proposals are practical or helpful, although I understand entirely what he is seeking to achieve.

The Deputy referred to the overspend last year. If one thinks of Ireland Inc. providing services for 5 million people on a 24-hour demand-led basis, the growth outturn was 0.2% last year. Therefore, the excess spend was 0.2% or one fifth of 1%. That puts it into some context.

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