Seanad debates

Thursday, 12 December 2002

Appropriation Bill, 2002 [Certified Money Bill]: Second and Subsequent Stages.

 

There is a responsibility on people like me, who take the view I have outlined, to explain to people that spending more money means the provision of better services. To provide such services, we must change our approach to budgeting and to the evaluation of value for money within the public service. Traditionally, there has been – I think we borrowed it from the British who have, at least, being trying to move away from it – an almost exclusive focus on inputs and on money spent. For example, when the Department of Finance consults the various other Departments as part of the Estimates process, it basically says they can spend an additional 4%, 10% or whatever and there is no actual concentration on what will be obtained in return. The Department does not say that what it wants to do this year is produce 300 more beds and that this will cost a particular amount. It does the reverse and informs the Department of Health and Children, for example, that it will obtain a certain amount of money and will have to work out how many more beds it can provide on foot of this. There is no concentration on results.

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