Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It should be noted that budget 2022 was cast in a time when the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sectors my Department supports was still all-encompassing. The 2022 budget contained funding aimed at supporting those sectors through the worst of the pandemic when many of them were in complete shutdown. The total allocation for 2022 was €1.276 billion, with €1.074 billion in current expenditure and €202 million in capital expenditure. Of the €1.074 billion in current funding, €290 million was provided on a once-off basis for Covid-support measures for initiatives including supports for live entertainment, sport and business-continuity funding in the tourism sector.

This was all aimed at ensuring these sectors were sustained through the pandemic and would then emerge in a healthy position. The scale of that intervention in 2022 was hugely significant for the sectors. My Department’s demonstrated support underlines the commitment of the Government to supporting these sectors and how much we valued these sectors through the pandemic.

As we emerged from the pandemic, in budget 2023, thankfully, there was no longer a need for the scale of intervention in respect of Covid-19 that was required in 2022 because the restrictions had been lifted. However, the sectors supported by my Department are not completely recovered from the impact of the pandemic and therefore there is an ongoing need to support the sectors as they seek to fully recover. Accordingly, the 2023 budget for my Department contains some once-off funding of approximately €98 million, not as much as was required in 2022 for the reasons I have outlined, but still quite a significant amount. Hence, there is an overall fall in the total budget for 2023 compared with 2022 caused by the reduction in overall once-off funding of €121 million. Overall, the reduction year on year on the face of the budget is due mainly to the reduction in once-off funding from €219 million to €98 million.