Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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2. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will publish updated spending reviews for each Government Department; the reason for not publishing in advance of budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60444/25]

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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I ask the Minister about the spending reviews carried out this year that were not published, as had been the practice in previous years. Why were no spending reviews published in the run-up to the budget? How many spending reviews were carried out this year that were not published? Why has the practice of publishing these reviews been abandoned? Does the Minister agree the public has a right to know what is in these reviews? Will he publish all spending reviews that have been caried out? When will he publish them?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. Securing value for money is an ongoing priority for the Government. It is at the heart of all decision-making at every stage of policy or programme lifecycles. It is about securing the efficient and effective use of public resources and improving living standards and infrastructure for the people of our country. Policy analysis is a core component of public expenditure management and value for money frameworks.

A wide range of policy and expenditure analysis is undertaken and published by Departments annually. These can take the form of staff papers, focused policy assessments, spending reviews and analytical notes, among others. My Department plays a central role in this process by regularly analysing expenditure trends and policies. Alongside this, individual Departments have responsibility for evaluating the efficiency and impact of their own programmes and policies. Since 2024, approximately 59 papers have been published by Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, IGEES, staff across government. During 2025, it produced policy analysis and expenditure evaluations on a broad range of topics, including disability services, social housing, migration and labour market trends, statutory sick leave, well-being, education, transport and youth participation. This analytical research has continued to play a key role in supporting evidence-based policymaking.

In addition, my Department continues to ensure evidence and analysis is at the centre of policymaking within the budgetary process. This is communicated through a range of publications including the annual expenditure report and the public service performance report, as well as our expenditure and policy evaluation papers across a range of topics.

In preparation for budget 2026, my Department undertook several pieces of analysis to support resource allocation. The public service performance report was published in June and it detailed how Departments performed against targets set in the Revised Estimates process. We published the national development plan review in July. We spoke about that previously. Importantly, we published the medium-term expenditure framework in September. This is a multiyear public expenditure planning exercise which supports assessment of the resource implications of future policy decisions over the period from 2025 to 2030.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Aire, but let us focus on spending reviews and 2025, and not all the other things that have happened. The Government has a track record of wasting public money. We need look no further than the bike shed for an example of that. In previous years, spending reviews were published in the run-up to the budget. That did not happen this year. Why not? Why is the Minister suppressing these reports?

At the budgetary oversight committee, we were told by the Parliamentary Budget Office that about 50 spending reviews were carried out this year and that these were not published. Some 250 IGEES personnel worked on these spending reviews in every Department. It is a significant amount of work but we have not seen what is in these reviews. The public has a right to know what is in them. When will the Minister publish them? Is there something in these spending reviews the Minister does not want us to see? If not, will he commit now to publishing all spending reviews that have been carried out in 2025?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I reject that analysis. Much work across government and in the public service is delivering a significant number of projects on time and on budget. Flippant remarks about particular projects undermine the core work of many people who work across our system. It is important to balance the Deputy's remarks in that context. Since 2024, approximately 59 publications have been authored. In 2025, we have had the Intergenerational Dependence on Social Housing working paper from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the Review of Social Housing Delivery and Spend from my Department in January; the Supply and Demand of General Practice in Ireland report, which was published by the Department of Health; the Analytical Paper on the School Meals Programme, which was published in July; the Spending Review: Disability Residential Services report; and the Focused Policy Assessment: HSE Adult Disability Day Services report. I have a long list here which I can send to the Deputy of many papers published by IGEES, which is co-ordinated by my Department, as part of its work across government around spending reviews, value for money and providing policy analysis. There have been extensive publications. I could list many publications from this year, such as the well-being framework. They complement the medium-term expenditure framework, which was an extensive piece of work by the central expenditure division.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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How many spending reviews were carried out in 2025 that have not been published? That is the nub of my question. That is what I want to know. We have been told at the budgetary oversight committee that in the region of 50 spending reviews across Departments - a very significant body of work - have not been published.

Can the Minister tell us how many spending reviews have been carried out this year, how many remain unpublished and when will he publish these spending reviews? They can provide an invaluable insight and analysis. There can be huge learnings from them. It is important information is shared with the public and that it is not suppressed. How many spending reviews have been carried out this year that the Minister has not published and when will he publish them?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I started listing a number of them that have been published. As I said, there have been 59 papers published since 2024. I am happy to send to the Deputy a list of the ones we have published.

Indeed, what has informed most of the work in the Department was the medium term expenditure framework, which did an expenditure analysis of the overall expenditure trends across Government. I am not sure if the Deputy has read it. It looked at the-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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I am asking the Minister about the spending reviews he has not published.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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It has been the most extensive detailed piece of work across many of the economists in the Department, looking at the expenditure trends for the past five years and at how we make the policy choices and trade-offs over the next five years, acknowledging some of what was referenced in the Department of Finance report yesterday in terms of changing demographics, the impact of climate change and-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Will the Minister publish the spending reviews that he has not published?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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There are ongoing publications. Indeed, I regularly publish their respective reports. I am not sure who is giving the Deputy that analysis on reports not being published because-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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The Parliamentary Budget Office.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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-----many of the IGEES reports are published.

I am not sure if the Deputy read the medium term expenditure framework. It is a comprehensive, cross-cutting cross-government report as a five-year backward-looking analysis on expenditure trends to inform expenditure for the next five years. It informs a lot of the work that we undertook as part of budget 2026 and will inform the medium-term structural and fiscal plan with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe.