Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is important to bear in mind that we are working from information based on five months of the year. When it comes to managing expenditure, Departments will have expenditure pressures at different points in the year. The spending is not always evenly spread throughout the year. At this point in time, our expectation is that most Departments will be in a position to spend their full allocation on the policies the Government wishes to have pursued. When it comes to capital expenditure, there will be pressure because of the shutdown of construction earlier in the year. That explains why there are significant underspends. There is a carry forward facility, as I noted previously. We carried forward over €700 million in unspent capital from last year into the current year. That increases the amount of funding that is available to be spent, but there is a limit. It is 10% of the budget within the Vote head that can be carried forward.

Every Department has its own individual story to tell. The overall picture is of very elevated Government expenditure to meet the challenges we are facing in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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