Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform

Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)

2:00 pm

Photo of Seán FlemingSeán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is more of an observation. I will not go back over the previous discussion but the Estimate last year for this Vote was €362 million. The Minister brought in a Supplementary Estimate in December for another €22 million because it is hard to predict the numbers. We are told the outturn was €368 million which meant the Minister required an additional €7 million, even though he came to us in December looking for €22 million. I know it is hard to predict but looking for €22 million with only a couple of weeks to go to the end of the year when only €6 million or €7 million was ultimately required seems a good bit off the mark. It is more of an observation and I acknowledge how difficult it is.

In regard to the Government announcement yesterday on the extension of the grace period in respect of retirements, to which Deputy McDonald referred, the Minister said he got approval from the Government to extend it to June 2016, which is fine and it probably makes common sense to extend it to the end of the agreement. I wish to ask about the modalities more than anything else. That deadline was in the Financial Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013. Will this require legislation or a statutory instrument?

The Minister said he was concerned there would be an exodus of senior staff if he did not make this change. He also stated that an exodus of senior staff would also carry with it the short-term financial effect of once-off superannuation costs. It is probably asking too much but given that the Minister said in his press release yesterday that a short-term financial effect would have arisen had he not made this change, was he able to advise the Government of what that effect may have been or of the lesser effect, having got that sanction? I presume that when he went to Government to ask for this sanction, he said it made sense and that there was a financial effect. What is the financial effect to which he referred in the statement?

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