Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

6. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has costed recent policy proposals from Ministers including increased subsidies for child care, paid paternity leave and compensation for small business for increases in the minimum wage; if ministerial announcements regarding additional expenditure must comply with expenditure ceilings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5779/15]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

This is an important issue given events that will happen in the next 12 to 14 months in the run up to the general election. I want to ask the Minister whether he has costed and sanctioned recent policy proposals by a plethora of Ministers that would incur an extra cost to the Exchequer including subsidies for child care, paid paternity leave and compensation for small businesses for an increase in the minimum wage. We will discuss the difference between Ministers talking as Ministers and talking as party spokespersons who are electioneering, and the Minister might tell me where he sees the line between the two.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is a very tricky question. Ministerial expenditure ceilings are decided by the Government within the context of the overall Government expenditure ceiling required to ensure that our fiscal targets are achieved, and have a statutory basis in the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2013. We legislated for them. The multi-annual voted expenditure ceilings allow for greater transparency in the allocation of resources across Government Departments over a three year horizon and facilitate the work of the Oireachtas in engaging with Ministers and their Departments their spending priorities.

The second comprehensive review of expenditure, CRE, was carried out last year. The objective of it was to provide Government with a set of options to re-align voted spending priorities in order to deliver key public services while continuing to meet our overall fiscal targets. All Departments made detailed submissions to my Department as part of the process. Based on these submissions and analysis carried out by my Department, the Comprehensive Expenditure Report 2015-2017 was published on budget day. It set out the multi-annual expenditure ceilings agreed by the Government for the three year horizon.

I am aware that policy matters in the areas referenced by the Deputy, namely, child care, paternity leave and the minimum wage, are being considered by my colleagues in those areas in the context of their Departments’ missions and goals. Any specific proposals that might arise in these areas would be carefully and thoroughly examined and costed before deciding on their merits. Decisions would take account of the management of expenditure within the ministerial expenditure ceilings and the most up-to-date fiscal and economic advice.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In general, if a Minister makes a statement on one of these matters, do we ask the Minister whether he or she has included it in the expenditure ceiling for his or her Department over the coming three years or do we ask the Minister, Deputy Howlin, to validate it? I ask because, in January, a Minister announced that the public sector pension levy was likely to be reduced. On 13 January, another Government source suggested working parents were in line for tax breaks and subsidies for child care and promised a second free preschool year, while on 14 January another Government source suggested property owners were going to be encouraged to enter rent certainty leases and possibly get tax breaks for them. On 21 January, the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, said he was confident two weeks of paid paternity leave was coming and then the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, said a wage-led recovery including a minimum living wage of €11.50 per hour was also under consideration. Where are we with all this?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Like the Deputy, I read all these things with very great interest. We set out the economic horizons and I engaged with Ministers, who have great flexibility within their budget lines to reprioritise. However, it must be decided by the Government as a whole. People are entitled to debate these plans and, under the new budgetary system, I have encouraged such debates. The committees of the House should debate these challenging issues, such as child care. Should we have an additional preschool year? Should we have a different method of support? Is the current provision working? Then, we can cost any proposals that emerge and see how they fit in. I would not seek to stifle initiatives by colleagues to address real needs they perceive in their areas.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

While I agree with the Minister, we need a broad debate on it to discuss the different perspectives. The Minister may be right from a political perspective to suggest that we discuss the concepts and ideas and then cost the best ideas to see if they are affordable. However, is it right to let the conversations and vague promises happen without any costing? The public would like to know how some of these lovely ideas might be paid for somewhere along the line. If a Minister goes to the trouble to make a specific announcement, he should be able to give some indication of whether it might cost €1 million, €10 million or €100 million and say it will be subject to financial conditions.

It would also be helpful if a cost was associated with these high-flying ideas.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I do not agree with the Deputy at all; I think it would be helpful to know. Everybody is in favour of more services and so on, but we need to know their cost and how they will fit in to affordability. That is part of the anchoring of policy discussion in what is deliverable. As I said when I addressed the committee of which the Deputy is a member, we have established the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service as an independent service to evaluate the economic value of any proposal. That is being increasingly effective in producing independent analysis of service provision as it is, service provision internationally and service as it might be provided, anchoring it in economic reality. That is how we should look at it.