Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the opportunity to address the Seanad on the Appropriation Bill 2004. In light of the House's busy schedule I appreciate that today's debate will be brief. However, I understand that we will have further opportunity to discuss the matter early in the new year.

The main purpose of the Bill is to give statutory effect to the departmental Estimates for supply services, current and capital, including all of the Supplementary Estimates which have been approved by the Dáil since the previous Appropriation Act. It also makes provision for two excess Votes in 2003.

As has been the practice in recent years, the Bill includes a technical provision to allow for deferment of the end-year deadline for the financial resolution passed on budget night. Also in line with recent practice, the Seanad is being asked to approve an early signature motion to facilitate a request to the President to sign the Bill earlier than would normally be the case. A new feature of the Bill is that it provides for the first time for the carryover into the following year of unspent voted capital under the multi-annual capital envelopes introduced in 2004.

Section 1 makes provision for the grant of excess supply from the Central Fund for 2003 of €71, 280 for the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman. The excess Votes, which arose due to the changeover to new financial management systems, have been approved by the Committee of Public Accounts, the Minister for Finance and the Dáil.

Section 2 appropriates for the year 2004 the net sum of €33.1 billion to the various services listed in Schedule 1, comprising just over €33 billion for the supply services in 2004 and the sum of €71, 280 for two excess Votes in 2003. The 2004 sum includes Supplementary Estimates of €133 million on 11 Votes which have been approved by the Dáil. The services covered range from €60 million for the Department of Education and Science to grant extra funding for redress, pensions and special needs, to token Estimates of €1,000 for the Departments of Finance and Transport in order to allow moneys to be transferred to the North-South INTERREG programme and to fund the taxi hardship scheme, respectively. Notwithstanding the Supplementary Estimates, current indications are for a saving on net total voted spending in 2004 of some €250 million. This comprises €170 million on the current side and €80 million on the capital side. The latter excludes capital carryover. The actual end-year outtum will be published in the end-year Exchequer statement on 5 January next. As usual, the Bill also seeks approval for the use of departmental receipts, some €2.9 billion, as appropriations-in-aid of the services listed in Schedule 1.

Multi-annual capital envelopes give Departments and implementing agencies certainty in the medium term in regard to the resources available to them to fund their capital programmes. The facility to carry over unspent voted capital from the current year to the next is an important element of the capital envelopes. The new arrangements give Departments and agencies more flexibility and allow them to plan and implement their programmes and projects more efficiently and effectively.

Statutory authority for the carryover of up to 10% of unspent voted capital was provided for in section 91 of the Finance Act 2004. That Act requires that the proposed capital carryover amounts for each year must be specified by Vote in the Appropriation Act of that year. Section 3 of the Bill provides for the carryover of some €237 million — or 4.3% of total voted capital — from 2004 into 2005. The Votes involved are listed in Schedule 2. The €237 million will issue from the Exchequer at the end of the year to the credit of the PMG accounts of the Departments concerned. However, it will not be available for spending in 2005 until the Dáil approves an order — at the beginning of the year — specifying the capital subheads in each of the Votes concerned against which the money will be spent.

Article 17 of the Constitution requires that the financial resolutions of each year must be enacted into law by the end of that year. However, the end-year deadline can be deferred if an Act to that effect is passed before the end of that year. This section makes provision for this deferment to be invoked. The inclusion of this provision in the Appropriation Bill will maintain the normal statutory deadlines for passing budget measures into law. Identical provisions have been included since the Appropriation Act 1997. The Seanad is also being asked to approve an early signature motion. This is sought each year in order to ensure that the necessary legislative authority is in place for the final end-year issues from the Exchequer.

Sound and effective management of the public finances by the Government have enabled it to make gross provision — including for the non-voted social insurance and national training funds — of over €41 billion for spending on the public services in 2004. We have provided substantial additional resources for the priority areas of health, education, social welfare and capital investment and we have again done so within budget.

I commend this Bill to the House.