Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 January 2019

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Fiscal Assessment Report: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I accept the point that one does not suddenly find out in September that there are issues. However, in the summer economic statement and the update I gave in September before the announcement of the budget in October, I flagged that there was a health expenditure overrun. In the summer economic statement I identified an expenditure risk which fluctuated during the year and was the subject of a lot of work, especially during the summer. It led to the figure on which the Deputy is quizzing me. I called it publicly as a risk, both in the summer economic statement and the stability programme update that preceded it.