Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 26 September 2018

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance

1:30 pm

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Yes, I am coming to that. That is No. 3. I have it written down here. The Deputy asked for the underspends by Department. I do not have that available to me but I can get it for the Deputy. It is published so I will be able to get it for him quickly. The fiscal monitor outlines where we are Department by Department in respect of their profiles, so we will be able to give that information to the Deputy. To deal with one matter upfront, what is different this year from the case in the past is that the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government will spend the full allocation it has available to it. The Deputy has raised this with me because this has not been the case in previous years.

To respond to the Deputy's fourth question about carbon tax, yes, we would use some of the revenue, were such a tax to be increased, to try to deal with sectors that would be adversely affected by it. I must make the broad point, however, that if such a tax change is made, most of the revenue will be used to address issues which colleagues have raised with me this afternoon, principally what we want to do in housing and our future health needs. Yes, I would look to leave aside a portion of the revenue to deal with adverse effects that could develop by sector and to see how we could accelerate our progress in respect of an economy that is less reliant on carbon. I have answered the question about Bord Gáis for the Deputy in the past but I will have to get the answer again as the committee goes on. I do not know it immediately.

To respond to one other question that was pending, Deputy Doherty asked me earlier for the figures available for additional housing for 2019 that are already built into the ceilings we have published. It is €160 million on build and acquisition and €100 million for programmes such as LIHAF and the retrofitting of homes.