Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department has published this week the pre-budget expenditure update for 2020, which replaces what would be the normal mid-year expenditure report. This provides a lot of detail on what has been an exceptional year. I acknowledge that point.

The previous Government and the current Government had to respond in an unorthodox and rapid manner to circumstances that have prevailed. My Department has constant engagement with particular line Departments. There are people in my Department who manage just the health Vote. When it comes to any new announcement from the Department of Health there is detailed engagement on that, and my Department has to be satisfied that proper processes are being followed, that there is value for money and that any new policy initiatives are fully thought through. Ultimately, we have to sign off on that. The Chairman gave the example of the winter plan. It is a dramatically larger and more comprehensive winter plan than ever before, and so it needs to be because of what our health service might have to deal with in the next months.

We are happy to work with this committee and the PBO on any particular issues or any proposals or suggestions they have around improving transparency in spending decisions. It has been a challenging year. We have done our best to provide as much information as we possibly can at a time when things are changing very quickly.