Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I move the following Supplementary Estimates:

Vote 19 — Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €1,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Probation Service staff and of certain other services including payments under cash-limited schemes administered by that Office, and payment of certain grants and grants-in-aid.

Vote 20 — Garda Síochána (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €1,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for the salaries and expenses of the Garda Síochána, including pensions, etc.; for payments of compensation and other expenses arising out of service in the Local Security Force, for the payment of certain witnesses' expenses, and for payment of a grant-in-aid.

Vote 21 — Prisons (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €12,000,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for the salaries and expenses of the Prison Service, and other expenses in connection with prisons, including places of detention; for probation services; and for payment of a grant-in-aid.

Vote 22 — Courts Service (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €1,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2008, for such of the salaries and expenses of the Courts Service and of the Supreme Court, the High Court, the Special Criminal Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court and of certain other minor services as are not charged to the Central Fund.

Vote 26 — Education and Science (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €15,500,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Education and Science, for certain services administered by that Office, and for the payments of certain grants and grants-in-aid.

Vote 27 — Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €1,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2008, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, for certain services administered by that Office, and for the payment of certain grants.

Vote 32 — Transport (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €1,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Transport, including certain services administered by that Office, for payment of certain grants and certain other services.

Vote 37 — Army Pensions (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €13,000,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for retired pay, pensions, compensation, allowances and gratuities payable under sundry statutes to or in respect of members of the Defence Forces and certain other Military Organisations, etc., and for sundry contributions and expenses in connection therewith; for certain extrastatutory children's allowances and other payments and for sundry grants.

Vote 38 — Social and Family Affairs (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €380,000,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, for certain services administered by that Office and for certain grants including a grant-in-aid.

Vote 40 — Health Service Executive (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €345,000,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for the salaries and expenses of the Health Service Executive and certain other services administered by the Executive, including miscellaneous grants.

Vote 41 — Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Supplementary).

That a supplementary sum not exceeding €2,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, for the provision of certain services in respect of children and youth affairs, including miscellaneous grants and grants-in-aid.

Final Dáil approval is being sought for a series of Supplementary Estimates proposing net additional voted expenditure of €765 million for 2008. These Estimates were originally introduced into the House on 25 October and have been fully debated in the relevant committees. The majority of this additional expenditure relates to the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Department of Health and Children, and arises from the significant increase in the live register and a shortfall in UK receipts. Supplementary Estimates totalling €272 million have already been approved this year for the farm waste management scheme and the nursing home repayment scheme. As a result, total Supplementary Estimates for 2008 amount to some €1.037 billion, or just over 1% of total net voted expenditure outlined in the Revised Estimates volume for 2008.

Each of the Departments requesting funding has made offsetting savings. In fact, the majority of the Supplementary Estimates before the House today are technical in nature and do not involve additional moneys being transferred to Departments, but rather allow them to use these savings to balance pressures elsewhere in the Vote. Where additional moneys are required, they arise from exceptional circumstances which were unforeseen at the time the original expenditure allocations were voted on.

While the members of the individual committees may already be aware of the reasons behind the Supplementary Estimates in their respective areas, I will take the opportunity to outline the proposed Supplementary Estimates to the House in a little more detail.

The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is seeking a net Supplementary Estimate of €12 million. This funding relates mainly to prison building and maintenance projects on the prisons Vote which have been underway for some time. A significant proportion of expenditure in 2008 relates to building projects in Wheatfield, Castlerea and Portlaoise, which when completed in 2009 will provide accommodation for up to 400 additional prisoners. The three technical Supplementary Estimates will allow for additional expenditure in some areas of the justice, Garda and courts Votes to be offset by savings and surplus receipts from appropriations-in-aid. It is also proposed that the balance of the surplus receipts in each of these three Votes, in addition to delivering sizeable savings to the Exchequer at year end, will be used to offset the €12 million transfer required to the prisons Vote.

The Department of Education and Science is seeking a Supplementary Estimate of €15.5 million for 2008 as a result of delays in obtaining certain European Social Fund receipts, which were due to be paid in 2008 but are now unlikely to be paid until 2009. It is also seeking approval for a technical Supplementary Estimate to transfer funds to three grant-in-aid subheads, in which relatively small excesses arise in 2008. The excesses relate mainly to the pay and pensions of teachers and special needs assistants. There are additional costs arising in the school transport area and specific pay award costs arising in the higher education area. While the amounts being transferred are small, a Supplementary Estimate is required to move the additional moneys into these subheads as they are all grants-in-aid.

The Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is technical in nature. An additional €5 million, generated from savings elsewhere in this Vote, will facilitate the disbursement of €3.5 million for capital projects and €1.5 million for current expenditure from the dormant accounts fund. The fund is used to pay for essential services to combat isolation, for example. It also resources programmes aimed at tackling substance misuse and preventing suicide. It funds preschool education and before-school and after-school programmes. It facilitates community-based transport services, accessibility, integrated mobility and independent living schemes. The fund is also used to provide finance for projects aimed at lessening the social and economic disadvantage experienced by people with a disability.

The Department of Transport is seeking a technical Supplementary Estimate to allow unspent funds in a number of areas, primarily under the public transport subheads, to be reallocated in a number of other areas. The main area of additional expenditure is the national vehicle and driver licensing unit. It arises from the transfer of a number of functions from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government during the year.

The Department of Defence requires a Supplementary Estimate of €13 million for the Army pensions Vote. This amount is needed for two reasons. First, a shortfall of €6.75 million, arising from the 2008 cost of pension rate increases and the increased number of claimants, needs to be met. Second, €7.7 million is needed to pay for arrears of superannuation benefits, mainly higher retirement gratuities, which are payable to certain enlisted personnel who retire from the Defence Forces between 1 September 2005 and the end of 2008. These costs arise on foot of improvements in the pension terms of enlisted personnel recruited before April 2004. Agreement on these improvements was reached with the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association in November of this year, under the established negotiation machinery. The improvements will be implemented from a date not earlier than 1 September 2005. The gross shortfall of €14.45 million that arises in these areas will be partially offset by savings on various subheads and surplus appropriations-in-aid.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs is seeking a Supplementary Estimate of €380 million to cover the increasing pressure on a range of demand-led schemes. The increase in the number of people on the live register is leading to more payments having to be made under schemes such as jobseeker's allowance, the free schemes and the supplementary welfare allowances, particularly the basic rent and mortgage supplement allowances. Since September of this year, the number of people on the live register has been increasing by approximately 5,000 per week. The rate of increase has accelerated in recent days. Such a scale and speed of increase is unprecedented. As a result of the rapid increase in the number of people on the live register, significant pressures have arisen at the local offices of social welfare services. There have been delays in processing applications for jobseeker's benefit. This has led to an increase in the number of people claiming supplementary welfare allowance basic payments. The clearance of such arrears will have a significant impact on outturns under schemes such as jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit. The arrears component accounts for some of the difference between the number of people on the live register and the number of people receiving payment at any given time.

The Health Service Executive is seeking a Supplementary Estimate for a net amount of up to €345 million. My colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, has dealt with concerns about the predictability of some of the additional costs that have arisen, such as the consultants' deal, the shortfall in UK receipts, the court case relating to pharmacy margins and the health repayment scheme. She has explained in detail the background to such costs and the subsequent need for a Supplementary Estimate in the health sector. It is not the practice to make provision for pay awards until the details of such awards have been agreed and signed off. To provide in advance for pay awards would undermine the Government's negotiating position. Therefore, it was not possible to provide for the new contract for consultants — or, for timing reasons, the other requirements arising in the health area — when the 2008 budget was being compiled in December 2007 and the Revised Estimates Volume was being published in February 2008. The Minister for Health and Children has made it clear that she wishes to see demonstrable evidence that the reformed work practices to which the consultants have committed themselves are being delivered on the ground before significant sums of public money are paid to consultants.

A technical Supplementary Estimate is required for the Office of the Minister for Children to take account of the transfer of youth affairs functions from the Department of Education and Science. This Supplementary Estimate will change the title of the Vote to that of the "Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs". It will also amend the ambit of the Vote to allow expenditures by means of grants-in-aid.

I would like to draw the attention of the House to the withdrawal of pigmeat from the market. The impact of this crisis on the agricultural and food processing sector is already being felt. The Government is determined to act in a timely fashion by addressing the immediate fallout from this crisis and minimising any long-term impact on the food industry and primary producers. Discussions between industry representatives and officials from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have taken place to assess the situation. In this context, arrangements for an additional Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are being put in train. As the Tánaiste said this morning, such matters will be dealt with next week.

While Departments have used savings achieved elsewhere to offset expenditure overruns, where possible, the circumstances leading to the Supplementary Estimates before the House today could not have been foreseen when the 2008 expenditure allocations were being framed. They are necessary for the continued smooth running of public services. I commend these Supplementary Estimates to the House.

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