Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I had assumed that my script would be circulated in line with the normal precedent. I presume that can be done in the shortest possible time. I apologise for the failure to do so before now. The Deputy is right. There is a precedent for doing that.

It should be noted that the Department of Social Protection had sought a carryover of €750,000. This sum was provided for in the Appropriation Act 2011. However, it transpired that the Department did not have the savings at the end of the year. Accordingly, it could not be permitted to carry that amount over. As a result, this sum has been excluded from the Schedule. The Department is required to mention the matter in the 2011 accounts that it submits to the Comptroller and Auditor General. Capital carryover within a Vote does not have to be spent on the same subhead or programme where the saving occurred. It may be spent on a different programme, depending on progress and priorities.

On the more general question of getting value for money and accounting for departmental spending generally, Deputies will be aware that the old annual Estimates process has been replaced this year with a modern multi-annual framework. This will allow for full transparency about the allocations available to each Department over the coming three-year period. It will open the way for structural medium-term planning and prioritisation within each area, across all programmes, with full public input and parliamentary oversight. It will make it easier to assess what exactly Departments have achieved and are aiming to achieve with the public funds granted to them by the Dáil. It is not enough to know how much Departments are looking to spend. We need to know, and the public needs to know, what exactly is being delivered with that money. The Government is determined to ensure every area of public service is accountable for performance and results. This will apply to Ministers and their Departments, as well as to offices and agencies.

The 2012 draft order sets out the subheads or programmes under which Departments and agencies propose to spend in 2012 the capital carryover amounts specified by Vote in the Appropriation Act 2011. The total amount proposed in the draft order for 2012 is €114.355 million, which amounts to 2.5% of the 2011 provisional outturn. The total 2012 gross Exchequer capital provision allocated in budget 2011 amounts to €3.962 billion. The capital carryover of €114.355 million will bring the total Exchequer capital available for spending in 2012 to over €4.076 billion.

I will set out the main priority areas for the spending of the capital carryover of approximately €114 million I have mentioned. Some €34 million is being allocated by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government for the Leader programme. This is urgently required to allow for the maximisation of the drawdown of EU funds for rural schemes administered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Some €26.9 million will be spent by that Department on afforestation premia and on funding new forest planting. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will be allocating slightly over €18 million in Enterprise Ireland grants and science technology and innovation. Some €15.8 million will be spent by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on multimedia developments and retrofitting. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is allocating €8.7 million for smarter travel, sports grants and Sports Campus Ireland. Some €8 million will be allocated by the OPW to make up a critical part of the funding requirement to meet contractual commitments and urgent capital works. A total of €1.33 million will be spend by the Departments of Defence, Health, Justice and Equality, and Foreign Affairs on buildings, the forensic science laboratory and the EU Presidency, respectively. The total amount is €114 million. The specific allocations comprising the €114 million are set out in my script.

Departments and agencies have delegated responsibility to manage their capital programmes and projects. The availability of these capital carryover amounts in 2012 will assist them within this framework in tackling economic and social infrastructural priorities in their areas.

I commend the order to the House.

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