Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Preliminary work began on this at official level at the start of this year. I will be bringing to Cabinet in the next two weeks papers and proposals further laying out the process and the manner in which I aim to deliver this work.

This review will systematically examine the costs of existing policies to identify scope for funding of new initiatives from existing resources. This represents a change from the approach taken in previous spending review rounds, with a focus on the need to prioritise between competing demands, rather than a need to reduce overall expenditure. This review will also see a move away from the comprehensive approach taken in previous years to a system of rolling selective reviews. All current departmental expenditure - with the exception of pay rates - will be examined over a three-year period.

The expenditure report for 2017 details the expenditure ceilings from 2017 to 2019 for each of the ministerial Vote groups, which are within the allocations allowed by the latest forecasts of available funds. The aim of this process is not to review or reduce expenditure ceilings, rather to examine existing spending within those ceilings to identify less efficient or effective areas and thereby create space for new, higher priority, more effective and efficient initiatives. This process operates within the wider budgetary architecture and the medium-term expenditure framework, which supports sustainable expenditure policy, anchored by adherence to the fiscal rules. This reprioritisation and focus on totality of spend, rather than on incremental increases in expenditure, is something I have repeatedly emphasised.

The spending review will operate as a separate but parallel process to the budget. This year, the spending review process is beginning earlier than would have been the case previously.

See this speech in context