Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before it today to discuss the 2022 Revised Estimates. As Minister for Finance, I will be discussing the four Votes within the finance group of Votes. They are Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance; Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General; Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners; and Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission. The net funding allocation sought for the finance group of Votes in 2022 totals €497 million, compared with a 2021 Vote group total of €494 million, an increase of €3 million, or 0.6%. The primary driver of the increase is an increased pay allocation for the Department of Finance.

I propose to focus on the Department of Finance first and give a brief overview of its structure. The Department is structured around two directorates, the economic and fiscal directorate, programme A, and the finance and banking directorate, programme B. This structure remains unchanged from 2021. There are also a number of support divisions which ensure the smooth operation of the Department. The costs of these support divisions are allocated on a 50:50 basis to each programme.

The net allocation sought for the Department of Finance Vote in 2022 is €42.9 million, of which some €11 million is provided for a fuel grant scheme for disabled drivers and a further €335,000 to fund the Commission on Taxation and Welfare. Leaving these two expenditure lines aside, the Department’s allocation provides for both administrative and non-administrative costs. The single biggest cost remains salaries and allowances, which account for €23.771 million, or 55% of the total. A further €5.74 million, or 13%, is provided to cover facilities and non-pay administrative costs. There is also an allocation of €896,000 to cover a number of bodies that fall within the Vote group, namely the Financial Services Ombudsman, the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal and the Credit Union Advisory Committee. The remaining €2.2 million, or 5%, is provided to cover the legal, advisory and committee costs necessary to support the Department in the proactive delivery of its remit.

The allocation for Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, is applied towards a single audit and reporting programme. The Comptroller and Auditor General is an independent, constitutional officer. The Comptroller and Auditor General's mission is to provide independent assurance that public funds and resources are used in accordance with the law, managed to good effect and are properly accounted for. The Comptroller and Auditor General is required by law to issue opinions on the accounts of Government Departments and public bodies that are audited by him; publish reports on important matters at his discretion relating to value for money and the administration of public funds; and authorise, under the comptroller function, the release of public money from the Exchequer for purposes specified by law. The office assists the Comptroller and Auditor General in his statutory functions and is staffed by civil servants. The Comptroller and Auditor General's financial audit role covers around 290 sets of accounts produced by public bodies. Together, these bodies had financial transactions with a value of over €200 billion last year. The net allocation for this Vote is €9.365 million, which is a decrease of approximately 2.6% on 2021.

I move to Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners. This organisation collected a record €97 billion in gross receipts against total administration costs of €488.6 million. The relative cost of administration in this context is some 0.5% of gross receipts collected. The committee will be aware of the vital role of Revenue with regard to the employment wage subsidy scheme and the Covid restrictions support scheme. For 2022, Revenue has requested a net budget allocation of €441.1 million, a decrease of €625,000, or 0.1% on the 2021 Estimate. Over three quarters of the total budget allocation for Revenue is related to payroll, with an employment ceiling of 7,024 staff.

Finally, Vote 10 – Tax Appeals Commission, has a net budget allocation of €3.4 million for 2022, an increase of 7% on the 2021 Estimate of €3.2 million. The Estimate is provided for the Tax Appeals Commission to advance its programme of modernisation and reform and to address its caseload, while also meeting its obligations as an independent entity.

I thank the committee for the opportunity to present the finance group of Votes. I am happy to address any questions that members have.