Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The comprehensive review of expenditure process was designed to provide the Government with a complete set of options ahead of the budget to allow decisions to be made to realign spending with the priorities set out in the programme for Government, meet overall fiscal objectives, and explore new and innovative ways of delivering Government policy in a reformed public sector. Under the process, Ministers and their Departments had primary responsibility for evaluating their own spending programmes, including programmes delivered by agencies under their aegis. Each Department put in place its own internal administrative arrangements to ensure delivery of its detailed report within a challenging timeframe. The review built on the previous analysis carried out as part of the first comprehensive review of expenditure in 2011 and on the evaluations carried out by my Department in the intervening period.

My Department subsequently engaged with each Department on its expenditure report and on the expenditure ceilings needed for 2015, 2016 and 2017. My Department also prepared separate sectoral analyses which informed the engagement. All of this analysis is available on my Department's website. As a result of this review process, the Government considered the expenditure and policy options in the period before the budget. Budget decisions were taken by the Government. As the Deputy is aware, this was the first budget in six years which did not involve reductions in overall spending. The Government was able to make some targeted increases in priority areas identified through the review process, including social housing and some welfare supports, in particular. The Government's deliberations and final decisions on the expenditure priorities for 2015 to 2017 are reflected in the comprehensive expenditure report which was published on budget day.

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