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

As the Deputy is aware, my Department is responsible for the allocation of public funds across each area of Government spending and ensuring that expenditure is managed by Departments in line with these allocations. My Department is also responsible for maintaining the national frameworks, such as the public spending code, within which Departments operate to ensure appropriate accounting and value for money in public expenditure. The responsibility for the management and delivery of investment projects within the agreed allocations and within the national frameworks rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case.

In addition, several measures are in place to help ensure that budgetary targets are met. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is in constant communication with all Departments and offices and it monitors their drawdown of capital funds from the Exchequer against the published capital expenditure profiles, with information published monthly as part of the Exchequer statement.

With regard to the health sector, all expenditure is examined on a monthly basis through the tripartite health budget oversight group consisting of my Department, the Department of Health and the HSE. This is in addition to the ongoing contact between the health finance unit and the health Vote section in my Department in respect of expenditure issues in the health sector. The Department of Health also reports to the Project Ireland 2040 delivery board with regard to its national development plan delivery and its capital expenditure. This group meets six times per annum and consists of the Secretaries General of major capital spending Departments, as well as five external members.

Last week I published the budget for 2023, in which I allocated over €12 billion to Departments to spend next year on investment in vital capital infrastructure projects. The Department of Health will receive almost €1.2 billion to enable it to plan and deliver its investment in capital projects in 2023. The Department of Health has also had committed to it core sectoral capital allocations of €1.255 billion and €1.36 billion for 2024 and 2025, respectively, under the national development plan, NDP. It is the responsibility of that Department to prioritise within these NDP commitments to deliver capital projects under its remit, including the national children's hospital.

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