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

I propose to take Nos. 11 and 245 together.

Total gross voted expenditure to the end of October amounted to €66.531 billion, which is €80 million, or 0.1%, below profile overall. Gross voted current expenditure of €61.055 billion is €1.262 billion, or 2.1%, ahead of profile. Gross voted capital expenditure of €5.476 billion is €1.342 billion, or almost 20%, below profile. There have been a number of developments this year which have an impact on the level of current expenditure. These include the extension of the Building Momentum pay agreement, the response to the cost-of-living crisis, the humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine and the ongoing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The position of the gross voted current expenditure in some of the major spending Departments is as follows. The Department of Social Protection is ahead of profile by €517 million. The position is mostly reflective of the payment of some of the cost-of-living measures in October, which were announced as part of the budget in late September but not included in the 2022 profile. Gross current expenditure in the Department of Health is €581 million ahead of profile. This is largely due to higher Covid-19 related expenditure than anticipated, due to the Omicron wave and the pandemic recognition payment. Gross current expenditure in the Department of Education is €168 million ahead of profile, mostly due to increased costs associated with the substitutions and payments of Covid-19 supports to schools for term three, as well as increased escort payments for school transport.

I can go through all the different Departments. We already had a discussion on capital expenditure but if the Deputy has a particular question, I will do my best to answer it.

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