Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair for facilitating our meeting today. I thank the committee for making time to consider this Supplementary Estimate for the children, equality, disability, integration and youth Vote group. We need a Supplementary Estimate at this point principally due to the expectation that the Vote will breach its total allocation before the end of November 2024. The Supplementary Estimate is being sought principally due to cost pressures associated with the growing demand for services provided by Tusla, the early learning and care and school-age childcare sectors and the HSE as well as the continuing demands associated with significant international protection arrival numbers. The areas of non-pay administration, youth services and organisations and the asylum migration and integration fund add to this requirement to a lesser degree.

In summary, cost overruns of €958.8 million are forecast for this year. This includes €2.6 million in respect of the double payment relating to foster care, the blind welfare allowance and the monthly mobility allowance payment. Savings of €398.8 million are also forecast across various subheads. These are principally on costs associated with the Department’s response to the Ukraine humanitarian crisis and the mother and baby institutions payment scheme. The overall value of the Supplementary Estimate is, therefore, set at €560 million.

I will now turn to the various components of the Supplementary Estimate. In respect of Tusla, there is a forecast supplementary requirement of €52 million. Tusla is dealing with significant and increasing service demands in 2024. The key drivers of the overspend are higher costs associated with residential care placements, including emergency placements, as well as greater demand for guardian ad litem services and related legal costs. In addition to the service demands, the supplementary requirement of €52 Million includes €2.2 million relating to the foster care double payment in 2024, €3.7 million relating to pension costs and €5.5 million for private foster care.

The early years programmes continue to see considerable growth. The demand for both places and hours witnessed in 2024 has been in excess of the initial forecasts. The growth in the national childcare scheme, which required additional funding of €56.5 million, comes on the back of the further positive changes to rates and conditions introduced over the last number of years. The policy changes we are implementing to make the national childcare scheme more attractive are succeeding. More parents are taking it up and they are using more hours for their children. Increased expenditure of €12 million is also occurring in respect of the ECCE scheme as the number of children registered is higher than that initially estimated, particularly in regard to the split between amounts allocated to subheads B3, excluding beneficiaries of temporary provision, BOTPs, and E5, which relates to those beneficiaries. These overspends are somewhat defrayed by underspends on subhead B5, principally in respect of capital projects where demand was below that anticipated. Savings of €17.5 million are now expected in addition to a modest saving of €1.4 million on the legacy community childcare subvention, CCS, scheme. The combined effect of this is that the requested additional funding for the early learning and care and school-age childcare sectors equates to €49.6 million.

Specialist community-based disability services which are delivered directly by the HSE or through service level agreements with section 38, section 39 and for-profit providers are also experiencing pressure at this time. My Department is forecasting a supplementary requirement in this area of €162.4 million. This is made up of a service delivery requirement of €162 million and a €400,000 for the double payments for the blind welfare allowance and the monthly mobility allowance payment, respectively. The main drivers of the service delivery requirement are in the areas of residential placements, pay cost pressures, home support and respite, as well as impacts relating to transport inflation and changing needs. Cost pressures are also being felt in respect of international protection accommodation services, IPAS, with an additional requirement of €674 million. Increased numbers continue to be the principal driver. In addition, the asylum and migration integration fund continues to advance a new round of funding while closing out the previous round is experiencing cost pressures.

In contrast, there are savings across a number of areas in my Department, principally in respect of the Ukraine division, where new policy measures in 2024 and reductions in the number of arrivals have resulted in a reduction in costs, leading to anticipated savings of €218.8 million. Second, there are savings in expenditure realised in relation to the mother and baby institution payment scheme, where applications have been slower than anticipated when the budget was set, leading to anticipated savings of €158.6 million. It is important to note that the scheme will remain open for five years and all applications currently on hand as well as those received in future years will be processed and paid as quickly as possible. In 2025, funding to the order of €100 million has been allocated for the scheme.

In addition, I am also presenting a request for a Supplementary Estimate for €304,000 on Vote 25 in respect of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC. Of this, €137,000 relates to the decision to take an own-name-proceedings case in 2024 and to meet a shortfall in respect of contract legal expertise costs. A further €167,000 relates to a shortfall in meeting the public service pay agreement pay needs, and the filling of three critical posts in early 2024. There is also an additional non-pay appropriations-in-aid of €100,000 in relation to the recovery of legal costs.

Officials from my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform have continued to monitor the expenditure of and allocations to the Department by way of regular meetings since the start of the year. I also bring a memorandum to Government on a quarterly basis in respect of my Department’s expenditure position.

I commend to the select committee these Supplementary Estimates for the Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and IHREC. I am happy to address any questions it may have after the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, makes her contribution.