Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Wide-ranging reforms to the budgetary architecture have been implemented by this Government with a view to supporting the efficient use of public funds to deliver effective services for our people. The medium-term expenditure framework and periodic comprehensive reviews of expenditure have provided the opportunity to move discussions about expenditure decisions away from consideration of short-term issues to a broader strategic debate about key challenges facing public expenditure and public services.

The reforms introduced at national level operate within the broader context of the EU level reforms to the Stability and Growth Pact, SGP. For 2015, with Ireland in the corrective arm of the SGP, the key budgetary fiscal target is to bring the general Government deficit below 3% of GDP as required under the excessive deficit procedure. As outlined in the spring economic statement, Ireland is on track to exit the corrective arm at the end of 2015 with a general Government deficit of 2.3%. This is well below the 2.9% that we set as our target. Thereafter, Ireland will become subject to the preventive arm of the SGP with budget 2016 being framed within that context. The new fiscal rules under the preventive arm will serve as a tool to help us responsibly manage our recovery. With future increases in public expenditure linked to potential economic growth, all areas of current and capital expenditure need to be managed to ensure that public expenditure is sustainable and delivers the maximum benefit.

Ireland's entry into the preventive arm of the SGP in 2016 afforded the opportunity for the spring economic statement to set out the parameters of next year's budget. Fiscal space of the order of €1.2 billion to €1.5 billion is available for budget 2016, with this amount split evenly between expenditure and tax measures. In this context, the material published at budget time will reflect an estimated expenditure outturn for this year, taking account of any additional expenditure planned for the year.

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