Results 18,161-18,180 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The overspend at the end of August is €343 million on the HSE subheads. I want to reaffirm to the Deputy what I said before the summer, which is that a Supplementary Estimate for the health Vote will be needed. As for what the final figure will be, I am still working with the Department of Health to clarify the final figure because it will be a crucial input into my budgetary...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: There are many different figures moving around regarding what it could be. What I am very conscious of, as Minister for Finance, is that once I say what the figure is, that is the figure on which I am accountable to the Oireachtas and that is the figure against which a Supplementary Estimate will be brought in. I am taking care with regard to indicating what that figure is because I am...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: According to the figures to date, a shock in the form of either a very hard or disorderly Brexit would be equivalent to three quarters of a point to a full point of national income growth over a period. My expectation is that if we were faced with a disorderly Brexit, that shock would materialise over the year as opposed to over a number of years. Regarding the impact of that on the budget...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I can only give the Deputy my judgment because this is an event, were it to occur, that would clearly involve many unknowns. What we have said in the past is that there would be an impact of three quarters of a point to a point. In terms of what impact that would have on our budgetary framework, the answer is that it would be significant.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I think it is likely that our economy would still grow but it would be at a significantly lower rate. In terms of what we said and the medium-term impact of a shock like that occurring, it could be worth three to three and a half growth points over the years afterwards. If that was to occur, it would be a significant shock for our economy. To answer the Deputy's question regarding what...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: If there is any change, I expect that it will be around the margins. I am not expecting a big increase. Were I to expect a huge change in the budgetary framework, not only would it be apparent to all members in terms of the growth forecast we will publish, I would be informing colleagues of it so it will be a shift around the margin if that even occurs.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: That is one of the matters on which I am working with the Department of Health because the key issue is not just the magnitude of any potential overrun but how much of that goes into the base. My experience in dealing with matters such as these in health expenditure is that the majority of this expenditure does go into the base.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: A bit less at times. One of the variables tends to be what happens with regard to the State Claims Agency or capital expenditure. It is a majority of that expenditure but that is a key element with regard to what impacts my budget 2019 calculations.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: That is correct. That is why I must put so much focus on understanding how much of that expenditure will be repeated into 2019 but the framework outlined by the Deputy is correct.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: No. I would look to the end of the year regarding what the revised and final expenditure figure would be for 2018 and then decide how much of the additional expenditure of that goes into the base for 2019 and how much of that is going to be covered by tax revenue, about which I can make a determination that is likely to continue into 2019. The delta between the two will influence the degree...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It could influence other budgetary choices that I make as well. I have always said there are choices I can make on the overall stance for the budget that might require tax changes elsewhere.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, this is a matter that I will be looking at in the next couple of days because we are now seeing, across a number of tax headings, a really strong performance. We have seen this in taxes in the labour market and we are also seeing it in corporation tax. I will have to make an adjudication next week as to what degree any of that is sustainable for 2019. That will determine how much of...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In my experience the small questions are sometimes the trickiest. If the Deputy puts them together I am not sure it will make it any easier for me.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In dealing with the Deputy's first question on whether I knowingly underfund the health service, the answer is no. I made decisions which I take responsibility for and that I worked on with the Department of Health. What is an issue for us is the fact that we are seeing overspends developing in both pay and non-pay areas. Much of this is concentrated in our acute hospital groups.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Chairman, can I just finish/ I will finish off answering the question but I am available and will spend the afternoon here to answer any questions that the Deputy may have. What is compounding the overrun is that our expectations on income that would be coming into our hospitals have not been met. We have a lot of work to do now, which we are in the process of completing, to understand...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I will come on to answer the Deputy's question. The Deputy put a question to me and I am going to answer it. The particular question the Deputy asked me was the degree to which we have already committed higher funding for housing for next year, as part of Project Ireland 2040 and the national development plan. We have committed additional funding for it. I do not have the figure in...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We make assumptions every year on how that Vote is going to perform. The challenge we have is that the overspend is of a level that is higher than we have seen before. Much of that is attributed to what we have seen happening in the acute hospital group. I made decisions on the allocation of funding for that. As the year went on, it was obvious that the demand from those parts of the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, I am. This is why I am taking care in naming the figure because there is a lot of debate under way and views expressed on what it is. When I put a figure to this committee, it cannot change because that is the figure that then goes into a Supplementary Estimate. One of the reasons I am taking care now in concluding my work with Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, is because what the Deputy...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We are trying to get the balance right because we have commitments overall in recruitment for the year that we want to meet. I want to ensure that any decisions we make for this year do not affect service provision given the great distress that can cause for our vulnerable citizens.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ex-ante Scrutiny of Budget 2019: Minister for Finance (26 Sep 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Does the Deputy mean beyond what I have already indicated?